By IANS,
New Delhi : AIIMS Metro Station, 11.30 a.m. Wednesday. An ear-piercing siren shatters the morning buzz at the busy south Delhi station and many people fall to the ground, some cover their head and others take refuge under a chair. It feels like an earthquake — well, almost!
What it was was a simulated disaster situation as part of a mega mock drill, the largest such in the city, organised by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Delhi Disaster Management Authority across hundreds of locations, including schools, malls, markets and other places.
Officials, including from Delhi Police and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), displayed essential dos and don’ts and carried the ‘injured’ to safety and evacuated others, just as in a real earthquake.
Manjuta, a participant in the exercise, was one of those evacuated and lying outside Gate No. 4 of the AIIMS Metro Station.
“It’s a good experience as we will get to know what to do when an earthquake strikes,” Manjuta told IANS.
An artificial set was prepared in the station premises, complete with a broken floor, water flowing and civil defence volunteers lying on the ground to demonstrate what needed to be done.
“We know calamity brings terror and trauma, but together we can prepare to restore order and calm,” said Himangshu Sharma, a spokesperson of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, whose officials were also part of the drill.
The mock drills were conducted across 218 government-run and 24 private schools, 31 colleges, 11 government-run and 11 private hospitals, four cinema halls, 19 resident welfare associations, 13 government office buildings, eight market trade associations and two petrol pumps.
Passengers from six stations were evacuated during the drill.
Many people looked completely flummoxed and kept asking what was going on.
Some passengers were waiting inside the station for trains and were visibly annoyed to learn that all operations had been suspended for half-an-hour. Things were pretty chaotic outside as well with massive snarls as traffic was diverted to other routes.
According to a Delhi Metro official: “About 1,500 operational and maintenance staff particpated in the mock drill.”