​HADR Exercise gets underway​

 SHILLONG, JUN 6:The Annual Joint HADR Exercise, Nabhas Rahat 2017 from 6^th-9^th June 2017 was inaugurated today by Chief Minister, Dr Mukul M Sangma at Eastern Air Command (EAC), Upper Shillong.

Delivering the Inaugural Address, Chief Minister, Dr Mukul M Sangma while congratulating the EAC for having initiated the important exercise said that it has motivated the state government to participate in the HADR 2017 exercise. He said that the need for preparedness to deal with disastrous situation has been a long drawn exercise based on learning experiences of the past. He added that the State of Meghalaya has been able to compile the appropriate protocol in the State Disaster Management Plan and it was befitting for the state to participate in the HADR exercise.

The Chief Minister said that ever since the mega earthquake of June 12 1897, the vulnerability of the region to disaster has been understood. He added that erratic behavior of weather conditions because of climatic change have resulted in cyclones, flashfloods etc but with access to scientific knowledge and the preparedness to deal with the situation has reinforced the confidence of being resilient enough.

Dr Sangma also said that coming together and aggregating the strengths is crucial and such exercises give everyone a reason to believe that in the event of disasters the state and other agencies are capable of giving the right kind of response and reduce risks and losses associated with the disaster and restore normalcy. He added that learning from past instances and being acclimatized to the challenges would ensure better resilience capacity for all dealing with disaster management. He informed that there has been instances in the past when in spite of having state protocol disaster management plans, challenges have been confronted during actual relief operations and that the HADR exercise would give an insight to acclimatize to sudden challenges.

The Chief Minister also called for the need to have exhaustive auditing of the organizations and agencies dealing with disaster management and that it must be appropriately integrated with the state protocol of Disaster Management. He hoped that the three days’ exercise will enable all stakeholders to be more enriched, resilient and better prepared to disasters.

Exercise Nabhas Rahat is being conducted to familiarize with the Disaster Risk Reduction (DDR) and Relief and Rehabilitation. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has been the first choice and among the ‘first responders’ in its role towards Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) within India and has also offered its services to other nations during disasters. With an aim to aim to synergize the efforts of all stakeholders from the National to the District Level and also to assess the effectiveness of the plans, organizational skills and decision support system at each stage of the relief effort the three days exercise is being organized by EAC, Shillong.

The exercise will provide a clearer understanding of the scope, role and task including challenges in air operations that need to be understood by all stakeholders for optimal result oriented efforts of IAF and HADR missions. It will also enable IAF operators to exchange ideas and understand constraints of other agencies involved during HADR operations bringing in the required synergy.

A review of planning and preparedness at different levels of administration, to access the ability of Shillong city to respond to a Level II disaster, rehabilitation of the people in the affected area and role of various agencies in HADR are among the topics to be discussed during the exercise.

Representatives from NDMA, NDRF, CRPF, BSF, Air HQ, Indian Army, Indian Navy, DGAR, GTC, ARC, Central Police Organizations and senior officers from various line departments of Government of Meghalaya were among the participants. Also present were Air Marshall, Anil Khosla, AVSM, VM, AOC-in-C, EAC, Shillong and Major General V K Datta, AVSM, SM, VSM, (Retd) and Senior Consultant, NDMA.

Later, presentations were made on Protocol of Disaster Management in India and Role of IAF in HADR: Revisit to Relief Measures Undertaken.