Delhi-NCR to witness maiden mega mock disaster drill on Aug 1
The drill will be preceded by a symposium of multiple stakeholder agencies to be held on July 29 and table-top exercises (TTEx) on July 30 at the Manekshaw Centre in Delhi.
The exercise will be conducted jointly by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Army's Western Command and Headquarter Delhi Area, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), police, civil defence, fire services, and health and transport departments apart from the disaster management organisations of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
This mega exercise is named Suraksha Chakra and this is the first such integrated disaster management exercise to be held in Delhi-NCR, an NDMA member said during a press briefing here.
"The mega-scale drills are part of the Centre's whole-of-government approach where multiple stakeholders will work together to make this region a safer place," NDMA Member Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) told reporters.
He said the exercise aims to create awareness amongst the general public and find ways and solutions to tackle a real disaster that may hit the Delhi-NCR in the future.
DDMA CEO Krishan Kumar said at least 55 places in 11 districts of Delhi will be hosting the mock drills with multiple police, fire and emergency vehicles and ambulances criss-crossing the length and breadth of the national capital on August 1.
"We request the press to spread the message that these are mock drills and there should be no panic or rumour mongering. Through these drills, the participating agencies are aiming to lessen response time during disasters and identify gaps," Kumar said.
Lt Gen Hasnain said apart from Delhi, two districts of UP -- Noida and Ghaziabad -- and five from adjoining Haryana-- Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal, Nuh and Rewari-- will be part of the mock drills.
"We are looking for jointness during this exercise. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a vision that such exercises should be regularly held in order to better prepare ourselves for tackling disasters," he said.
The symposium and table-top exercises, Hasnain said, will have discussions and debates amongst various agencies and aims to find "optimum" ways to respond to disasters in this region which is especially vulnerable to earthquakes.
An analysis and response mechanism against chemical and fire hazards will also be done at the same time and "we will find best ways" to tackle such accidents apart from "resource mapping" , he said.
Hasnain said the NDMA has conducted 200 small and large disaster mock drills across the country in the last five years. He recalled that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also directed that such exercises should be conducted once every three years in each of the 750 districts of the country.
The NDMA said such exercises are part of its effort to build a culture of "preparedness" and "resilience" and the outcomes will contribute towards strengthening the disaster management capabilities of Delhi-NCR for the safety and security of citizens during emergencies.
Such integrated mock exercises have been held earlier in UP, the north eastern states and along the east and west coasts of the country, as per the NDMA.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
5 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Chandigarh: Notification out to recruit 218 JBTs in UT's primary schools
The UT education department on Monday issued a recruitment notice for the 218 posts of Junior Basic Teacher (JBT) under Samagra Shiksha. The department has a total of 728 sanctioned JBT posts in Samagra Shiksha out of which 218 had been lying vacant. With the recruitment of these posts, the total number of JBT teachers including the regular posts in Chandigarh's primary schools will total around 1625. Horizontal reservation will be provided for people with benchmark disability on 8 posts and ex-servicemen on 22 posts. (HT photo for representation) Candidates can register themselves beginning August 7, from 11 am onwards by visiting https:/ / The last day to apply for the post is August 28, 2025 till 5 pm. The window to deposit fees online will be open until August 30 up to 2 pm. Out of total 218 posts, 44 are reserved under OBC category, 41 under SC, 22 under EWS and 111 are in general category. Horizontal reservation will be provided for people with benchmark disability on 8 posts and ex-servicemen on 22 posts. Candidates will be required to click on 'recruitments' on the website to submit their application. Merit list for the selected candidates will be prepared on the basis of total marks obtained in 150 marks objective type test. Qualifying marks will be 40% for all candidates. No interview will be conducted.
Hindustan Times
9 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
New Delhi's old drains to be assessed by robotic mapping
New Delhi A view of Lutyens' Delhi. (HT Archive) The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will carry out a robotic survey and mapping exercise of sewage lines laid pre-Independence using self-propelled platforms equipped with CCTV cameras, officials familiar with the matter said, adding that it will help assess the extent of damage. The robotic drone survey will be used to identify defects of displaced sections, disjointed pipes, cracks and fissures, after which repairs will accordingly be undertaken. Meanwhile, the council is also likely to soon initiate rehabilitation work of a sewage network from Shanti Path to Satya Sadan Madhu Limaye Marg via Kautilya Marg and along Kushak Nallah. NDMC officials said that there are several old brick-barrel sewer lines, developed almost a century ago, which are completely covered and cannot be accessed by larger machines. 'It becomes difficult to estimate or assess the amount of silt deposited and damage caused by erosion. No manual intervention will be involved in the process, and an expert agency will be hired to undertake the robotic survey. At some places, these century-old brick barrels have changed levels, and at other places, silt has accumulated, leading to waterlogging,' an NDMC official said. A second official explained that the assessment would involve lowering a self-propelled system—mounted with a sewer class camera which can pan, tilt and zoom—into the sewer line. 'The camera has 360-degree panning to capture images used for diameter measurement, quantity of silt estimation and any service defects like tree roots, debris along with structural defects. The acoustic profiling of the sewage line will also be carried out at every five-metre interval,' the official said. Acoustic profiling is used for assessing pipe conditions, including the detection of defects, blockages, and sediment buildup. Acoustic profiler equipment uses sound waves to measure water current velocity at different depths to assess the structure. On July 25, NDMC invited bids; the tendering process is likely to be wrapped up by August 4. The assessment is likely to be completed in three months. The first official said that the project will also involve searching for buried manholes by metal detectors, and opening and restoring manholes. 'The use of robotic machines will also help in compliance with the Prevention of Manual Scavenging Act,' the official said. NDMC maintains about 350 kilometres of sewage lines in New Delhi across an area of 42.7 square kilometres. The majority of New Delhi's basic infrastructure was built between 1920 and 1930. The sewage lines are of varying sizes, ranging from 350mm to 2100mm in diameter. Civic officials said that over the decades, corrosive gases from the sewage lines have peeled off the outer layers. 'This leads to collapse or settlement every year during the monsoon season,' the second NDMC official said, adding that some of the sections in these lines have already been rehabilitated. 'The first phase of rehabilitation of about 30km of sewage line and 10km under phase-2 has been completed and will be expanded to a much larger scale over the next five years,' the official said. Under phase-3, NDMC has started the process of desilting and rehabilitating sewer lines by the structural liner method from Shanti Path to Satya Sadan Madhu Limaye Marg via Kautilya Marg and along Kushak Nallah.
Hindustan Times
9 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
DU allocates 24k fresh seats in second UG round; teachers flag syllabus delay
The Delhi University (DU) on Monday released the second list of undergraduate seat allocations, offering fresh seats to over 24,000 students. According to official data, the university made a total of 87,335 allocations in the second round—includes upgrades, freezes, and new allocations—with 24,843 being fresh ones. New Delhi, India - September 15, 2021: A view inside Delhi University after DDMA allowed it to reopen, at North Campus, in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday, September 15, 2021. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times) 'A total of 27,314 candidates have upgraded to a higher preference, while 17,922 have opted to freeze their allocations from the first round,' a university official said. The first allocation list, released on July 19, had seen 93,166 seats allotted against 71,624 available seats across 69 colleges. By the end of the first round, 62,565 students had confirmed their admissions under the Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS), including 34,014 females and 28,551 males. The window for candidates to accept their freshly allocated seats opened at 5pm on Monday and will remain open until 4.59pm on Wednesday. DU's new academic session is scheduled to begin on Friday, August 1. Teachers say syllabi not yet uploaded Even as the second round of admissions progressed, several DU professors expressed concern that syllabus of some departments for the first batch of students under the Undergraduate Curriculum Framework(UGCF) as well as syllabi of certain departments under Postgraduate Curriculum Framework (PGCF) have not yet been uploaded on the university website. 'This leaves both teachers and students unprepared. We still don't have the final syllabus, and to teach a subject well, we need time to develop materials, which involves significant research,' said Mithuraaj Dhusiya, elected member of the executive council. 'So, while the academic session may formally begin on August 1, effective teaching will begin at a much later stage.' Abha Dev Habib, associate professor at Miranda House, said, 'The university has not yet notified syllabi passed in EC meetings held on May 23 and July affects thousands of students entering in the fourth year or seeking PG admissions. The callousness of the university shows that it has scant respect for students, teachers and the learning processes.' University officials, however, maintained that the syllabi will be uploaded in time. 'We're ensuring that all feedback from academic and executive council meetings is incorporated into the final syllabi,' DU registrar Vikas Gupta told HT. 'For instance, a committee finalised the Physics syllabus this week, and it will be uploaded by Wednesday.' A senior university official added that once the executive council minutes are approved, the council branch issues the official notification, and departments are required to reformat the syllabi to ensure uniformity across courses.
