ITANAGAR, 9 Sep: The disaster management department, in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), organized an orientation meeting with all key stakeholders on Tuesday to prepare for the upcoming statewide mock exercise.
The state-level mock exercise, simulating earthquake, landslide, and glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) scenarios, will be conducted simultaneously across all districts of Arunachal on 17 and 18 September. Table-top exercise will be conducted on 17 September. This will be followed by physical mock exercise and 18 September. The disaster response will follow the incident response system (IRS) framework, as notified by the government under E-Comp, dated 12 August this year.
Presiding over the meeting in the virtual mode, mock exercise coordinator and lead consultant (mock exercises & IRS) retired major general Sudhir Bahl provided detailed guidance on preparatory actions for both the table-top and physical mock exercises.
He advised all departments to update their disaster management plans and ensure that logistical arrangements, contingency planning, and scenario-based preparedness are in place across districts. He emphasized the importance of conducting widespread public awareness campaigns to ensure maximum community participation. He also instructed the armed forces to nominate observers for each district during the exercise.
Disaster Management Secretary Dani Salu highlighted the critical role of regular mock exercises in a multi-hazard-prone state like Arunachal Pradesh.
“Preparedness is the only mantra to mitigate the impacts of disasters and minimize loss of life and property,” he said. He further noted that learnings from previous mock exercises played a significant role in managing the Covid-19 response effectively.
The disaster management ministers’ adviser Nakap Nalo appealed to all the stakeholders to actively participte in the mock exercise. Nalo also released the updated ‘State Disaster Management Plan-2025’.
Disaster Management Joint Director Nob Tsering also spoke.
SP (F&ES) John Pada, members of the incident response teams, State Disaster Management Authority, District Disaster Management Authorities, representatives from line departments, the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, armed forces, NCC, NYKS, and other stakeholders attended the meeting.
