Bhubaneswar: The second BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise-2020 (BIMSTEC DMEx-2020) hosted by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will start here Tuesday.
The three-day exercise will be held in Bhubaneswar and Puri with the theme: ‘A cultural heritage site that suffers severe damage in the Earthquake & Flooding or Storm’.
Briefing the media here at Rajiv Bhawan, NDRF director general Satya Narayan Pradhan said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the three-day exercise here at a hotel, Tuesday. Union Minister of State (Home) Nityanand Rai will launch field training exercise February 12 at Ramachandi Beach in Puri district.
The participants of five countries — Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Nepal are participating in this exercise. Though seven countries are the members of BIMSTEC, Bhutan and Thailand are not participating in the exercise due to travel advisories issued by their governments, he said.
The three-day long exercise shall consist of an inaugural session and a Table Top Exercise (TTx) on ‘Collapsed structure’ at Hotel Mayfair Tuesday, Field Training Exercise (FTx) on ‘Aquatic Disaster Response’ with focus on ‘cultural heritage sites’ at Ramachandi beach, Wednesday followed by proceedings on disaster management exercise & policy meeting of NDMA/ NDMOs among the teams of participating Nations on the last day.
The objective of this exercise is to test the existing emergency procedures for notification, preparedness and emergency response, during a major earthquake and flood scenarios, he said.
This exercise will also provide an opportunity to enhance the co-ordination & co-operation involving multi-agency operations in an earthquake, flooding & storm.
An exercise village has been set up at Ramchandi in Puri where simulation on aquatic disaster response with special attention to the damage to heritage site will take place as part of the exercise. This will provide real-time scenarios so that in times of disaster, a proper plan for response and coordination among member nation can be executed in multi-agency scenarios.
Odisha has been selected in view of the state’s experience and success in tackling disasters in the past and also Odisha has a number of heritage sites, he added.
The exercise will be attended by International observers like United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Search And Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) & The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM).
National observers like Indian National Trust for Art And Cultural Heritage (INTACH) & Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), representatives from various stakeholders such as India Metrological Deptt. (IMD), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Centre Water Commission (CWC), Animal Quarantine and Certification Service (AQCS), Civil Defence, Fire Services and BIMSTEC Secretariat will also be in attendance.