New Delhi, March 22 (IANS) After the recent mega mock drill held in the national capital, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is planning to organise similar mock drills in four northern states to test for earthquake preparedness.
“We are planning to organise a mega multi-state mock drill exercise to check the earthquake preparedness in four northern states – Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and some of the north eastern states, which are prone to earthquakes,” NDMA vice chairman M. Shashidhar Reddy told IANS.
Reddy also informed that the drill’s motive was to check the preparedness of the agencies in the event of an earthquake with a high intensity of 8.0 on Richter scale.
“We need to be well prepared if a high intensity earthquake strikes. We need to conduct more mock drills and massive awareness campaign to reduce the impact of an earthquake,” Reddy said.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) in February this year six tremors were felt, while about four tremors were felt in March in various parts of the country.
Last year, 80 earthquakes occurred in India, which measured between 3.5 to 6.5 on the Richter scale. Majority of these quakes occurred in north Indian regions like Jammu and Kashmir, Harayana and Punjab.
