KOKRAJHAR,OCT 5: In an attempt to review the management plans during unprecedented emergency situations and enhancing the abilities to respond faster, a mock exercise on earthquake preparedness was organized on 22nd September (2023) at NTPC Bongaigaon under supervision of the G.M.Thangzom, Commandant, CISF.
The whole exercise was undertaken under the chairmanship of Chief Incident Controller, Sanjay Kumar Jha, GM, O&M (I/c) and Shri Induri S. Reddy, GM (Maintenance). M.S Kandari, Asst. Commandant, CISF(Fire), NTPC Bongaigaon, Kirti Yadav, Asst. Commandant (Security) CISF, Security, Shri Shashi Shekhar, AGM (HR), Onkar Nath, AGM (HR), Pavel Sarkar, AGM(Safety) along officials from various departments were also present along with other senior officers.
As per NTPC-Bongaigaon Disaster Management Plan, a Mock Drill on a major earthquake was conducted at New Administrative Building outside the plant premises on 5th October, 2023. Rescued persons were given medical treatment by the medical team.
Kandari briefed the team on the incident and ensured the smooth coordination of the drill.
The mock drill was designed to simulate an earthquake with Assam as the epicentre. During the exercise, a scenario depicting a magnitude 7 RS earthquake occurred at Assam and the New administrative building (outside NTPC plant) badly affected in the earthquake the mock exercise began at 11:00 AM. The employees and workers were informed about the simulated drill by the CISF, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local police personnel within 15 minutes of the earthquake striking. The CISF Fire and security, State police as well as NTPC representatives were the first to arrive at the scene and begin rescue operations, followed by the NDRF & SDRF team.
The NDRF & SDRF team established an Incident command post near the incident site where the major incident took place. It exhibited the process linked to the recovery of surface casualties, rope rescue techniques and other recovering strategies. After administering rudimentary first aid at the tent outside, people trapped inside and buried beneath the fallen building were rescued and sent to NTPC hospitals. Besides, the Police, Traffic Control, Fire, Safety department, Medical Team and other departments that participated in the rescue drills. The specialist task team was dispatched to the impacted areas, and within 25 minutes of their arrival, they were able to bring the situation under control. There were moderately injured people, 5-6 critically injured people, and 1 deceased trapped inside the building in the designed scenarios, all of whom were later rescued by concerned personnel, these injured victims were given first aid & CPR on the spot before being transported to the NTPC hospital for treatment.
Kandari briefed the team on the incident and ensured the smooth coordination of the drill Shri Jha spoke on various improvement areas during the mock drill and in the debriefing meeting and gave his suggestions. The entire exercise was completed successfully at 1230 hrs after the debriefing of the exercise done at the Fire station by the DC / CISF & AC/Fire. The participants and concerned officials from various Departments were also made aware about what needs to be done when disaster strikes.
