A mock drill was conducted across the district as part of assessing the flood and landslip preparedness of the district on Thursday.
The mock drill exercise was held under the leadership of the National Disaster Management Authority by creating a hypothetical flood situation in five panchayats in different taluks of the district.
The State-level exercise was conducted in all the districts, including Thiruvananthapuram, where a “red alert” was issued as part of the mock drill. Chenkal, Poovachal, Vellanad, Kadakkavoor, and Kadinamkulam were the five panchayats chosen for the mock drill in the district. A helicopter rescue operation was also carried out with the help of the Indian Air Force. Army also participated in the rescue operation in Chenkal panchayat.
The aim of the exercise was to assess how disaster management systems function in the event of a flood situation in the district. The operations were coordinated through Incident Command Post and Emergency Operation Centres of the Disaster Response Force constituted at taluk and district levels.
At the district level, the activities were coordinated under the leadership of Additional District Magistrate Anil Jose, who is in charge of the District Collector, and Deputy Collector of Disaster Management V. Jayamohan. At the taluk levels, rescue operations, relief camps, ambulance services, hospital facilities and so on were arranged as part of the mock drill. A representative of the National Disaster Management Authority assessed the activities from the district-level control room set up at the Collectorate.
