By IANS,
Agra : Ahead of a May 3-6 international convention on earthquakes here, Agra will hold a large-scale mock quake drill Monday to test the state of disaster management preparedness.
Hooters and sirens will announce an earthquake of high intensity. Immediately, messages from the control room in the district magistrate’s office will mobilise rescue operations with policemen, home guards, fire brigade and first aid teams rushing to four affected zones — Kamla Nagar, Shah Ganj, Loha Mandi and Raja ki Mandi.
A rescue camp has been set up at St John’s College ground on MG Road and four zonal incident command posts have been set up to coordinate the drill.
On Sunday, a battalion of the Rescue Force reached Agra from Greater Noida.
The exercise is being closely monitored by National Disaster Management Authority senior expert V.K. Khanna, who had several rounds of discussions with senior administrative and police officers Sunday.
District Magistrate Ajay Chauhan said representatives from 40 nations would be participating next month in the three-day international convention on disaster management preparedness in the wake of earthquakes.
This is the first time that such an exercise is being held in Uttar Pradesh, officials said.