DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

A field-level, multi-agency disaster management mock drill was carried in five districts of Haryana on Friday, officials said.

The Haryana Department of Revenue and Disaster Management, in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), conducted a large-scale mock drill titled 'Exercise Suraksha Chakra' across ?Gurugram, Faridabad, Rewari, Palwal, and Nuh.

The full-scale exercise, aimed at testing the response mechanism during natural and industrial disasters such as earthquakes and chemical hazards, was successfully carried out at 21 strategic locations including educational institutions, government buildings, hospitals, and key commercial spaces among others.

Haryana's Financial Commissioner (Revenue) Sumita Misra lauded the execution of the exercise.

She noted the commendable coordination among multiple stakeholders, including the Haryana Home Guards, Aapda Mitra volunteers, Red Cross, National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) volunteers and several NGOs.

The drill followed the incident response system (IRS) framework to evaluate communication flow, resource mobilisation, inter-agency coordination and real-time decision-making processes during a crisis.

Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) were tested and gaps in logistics and resources were identified for future strengthening.

The initiative demonstrated the state's ability to respond to large-scale emergencies through unified action by the administration, security forces, medical services and community volunteers, an official statement said.

Misra emphasised that the lessons from this exercise would be documented and integrated into the state's disaster management framework to enhance institutional readiness.

She reaffirmed the government's commitment to developing a robust, technology-enabled disaster response system that ensures the safety of life and property.

(editor@dailyworld.in)