Relief agencies enthralled denizens with a mock rescue operation that was conducted in Hussainsagar on Saturday.
Organised by the State and Central governments, the mock operation involved simulation of flooding in the city. To simulate the event, the Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had placed partially-submerged structures resembling commercial and residential buildings in the lake. About 50 armed forces personnel, pretending to be trapped civilians, were placed inside the structures, waiting for rescue.
To airlift and provide ground support, the Army and air force deployed the M-17, Chetak and Advanced Light Helicopters which hovered as the stranded persons were winched. To demonstrate capability, a massive inflatable power boat was also air-dropped onto the waters, even as the rescue personnel raced across the waters from the lake’s banks to evacuate ‘stranded persons’ and provide them aid.
The mock disaster rescue and relief exercise was witnessed by Minister of State for Defence, Subhash Bhamre, and Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali. Senior police officials, including City Police Commissioner M. Mahender Reddy, were present. The exercise was coordinated by GoC for Southern Command, Lt. Gen. P.M. Hariz.
A large crowd had gathered near Sanjeeviah Park to witness the exercise. People continued to arrive well after the completion of the programme mistaking it to be a day-long event.
Besides the rescue operations, the agencies also demonstrated their ability to provide medical care and relief. For the public viewers, a static display showing a rehabilitation camp was arranged that depicted the functioning of such a camp.
The Saturday’s exercise was part of a two-day programme dubbed ‘Pralay Sahayam’ organised in the city. On Friday, a seminar was organised at College of Defence Management. A table-top exercise of flooding in Hyderabad was simulated at the seminar where various agencies tested the coordinated responses.
