By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 7 May: A Civil Defence Mock Drill was conducted in Dehradun district today as part of a nationwide preparedness exercise directed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. The drill, aimed at enhancing citizen safety, was closely monitored from the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) and the District Emergency Operations Centre (DEOC) at USDMA.
Secretary Home Shailesh Bagoli, Director General of Police Deepam Seth, and Secretary Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Vinod Kumar Suman oversaw the drill from SEOC. District Magistrate Savin Bansal and his team remained virtually connected to SEOC from DEOC under the Incident Response System (IRS).
Before the scheduled siren activation, Bagoli and Seth arrived at SEOC to assess the preparedness. Various incident sites, staging areas, command posts, and relief centres were linked to SEOC for real-time monitoring.
During the drill, Bagoli sought detailed information from Bansal regarding incident response protocols, including force deployment, shelter arrangements, staging area resources, and IRS activation. He emphasised the importance of IRS in effectively managing disasters, urging officials to ensure clarity in roles and responsibilities from state to tehsil level.
On the occasion, Seth reviewed reserve resources and equipment, instructing officials to ensure smooth traffic movement for ambulances and rescue teams. Suman directed thatgaps identified during the exercise be documented in a detailed report for future improvements.
Throughout the drill, SEOC ensured that requested resources, equipment, and assistance reached incident sites on time. Officials present included Additional Chief Executive Officer Administration Anand Swaroop, DIG Implementation Rajkumar Negi, Joint Chief Executive Officer Md. Obaidullah Ansari, Director of ULMMC Shantanu Sarkar, and other key personnel.
The mock drill was part of a larger nationwide exercise, following recent security concerns and aimed at strengthening emergency response mechanisms.
