Tsunami mock drill spreads wave of panic in Kodavoor – Malpe
Udupi: Around 200 people residing on the Malpe beach here were shifted to a nearby school while the district administration declared a holiday for schools in the locality and sent urgent messages to fishermen who had ventured into the sea to come back following an alert that the sea was likely to turn rough in the aftermath of an earthquake close to the Pakistan coast.
The tsunami alert issued by the National Disaster Management Authority to the district Disaster Management Cell triggered panic, not just among the residents but put the authorities on their toes with CEO of ZP, Priyanka Mary Francis and Anuradha ADC calling an emergency meeting of senior officials in their chamber to manage the situation.
The three-hour-long operations that began at 12:15 p.m. ended with a sigh of relief after the authorities were informed that the exercise was part of a mock drill to sensitise the people and the officials to prepare themselves to manage the disaster.
Priyanka Mary Francis CEO Udupi acted Incident commandant while Anuradha deputy commandant in the drill.
About Mock Tsunami Drill
India, along with 23 other Indian Ocean Nations, is participating in a major Indian ocean-wide tsunami mock drill on 7 and 8 September 2016.
The drill, known as IOWave16, is being organised by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, which coordinated the setting up of Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS) in the aftermath of the December 26, 2004, tsunami.
IOWave16 will comprise two scenarios: the first will simulate an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2 south of Sumatra, Indonesia, on 7 September at 0830 IST and the second will simulate an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 in the Makran Trench south of Iran and Pakistan on 8 September at 1130 IST. The second scenario will trigger mock drill for Karnataka State. The exercise will be conducted in real time lasting for about 12 hours and ITEWC will issue 15 tsunami bulletins to both national and regional stakeholders through GTS, email, fax, SMS as well as on its website.
The major objectives of IOWave16 include testing the efficiency of communication links between TSPs, NTWCs, Disaster Management offices and local communities at risk. The drill will also facilitate exercising the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of emergency services and evaluating their state of readiness to handle tsunami-like emergency situations. Most importantly, IOWave16 is expected to enhance the awareness and preparedness among all stakeholders including vulnerable communities.
The end-to-end warning system, right from tsunami detection and forecasting, to threat evaluation and alert formulation, as well as dissemination to the public – their awareness and response, will be put to test during this mock drill.
Three villages namely Bettampaddy, Dakshina Kannada; Kodavoor, Udupi District; and Majale, Uttara Kannada District have been selected for the mock drill. The drill will involve evacuation of around 750 people from the above-selected villages. Simulation on causality management, traffic management and law and order situation will be done during the course of the drill. 17 line departments along with Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy, National Disaster Response Force, NDMA and NIDM will be part of the mock drill.
Apart from the terrestrial mode of the communication system, VSAT and HAM will be tested during the mock drill. Incident Command Post will be created in each selected village to closely monitor the situation and take necessary action.
