A multi-agency humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise to review the response mechanism in the event of a cyclonic storm will be led by the Southern Naval Command at the BTP Jetty of the Cochin Port from April 5 to 8.
Named ‘Chakravat’ meaning ‘cyclone’, the exercise will see participation by the three Services, the Coast Guard, State administration, State Disaster Management Authority, National Disaster Response Force, Fisheries Department, Coastal Police, and members of the fishing community.
It is for the first time that the yearly exercise is being conducted in Kochi, Commodore Deepak Kumar, Chief Staff Officer (Operations), Southern Naval Command, told The Hindu during an interaction.
While a skills and joint relief and reconstruction demonstration held as part of the exercise will be on the scenario of a cyclone hitting a port, a range of activities such as aerial surveys, rescue and relief missions, port clearance operations, and pollution control undertaken for disaster mitigation will apply to any large-scale disaster along the coast.
A seminar to be organised as part of the exercise will have the Collectors of Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam – two districts that bore the brunt of Cyclone Ockhi late last year – and Additional Chief Secretary (Disaster Management) talk about disaster relief operations. The perspectives of the Disaster Relief Commissioner of Tamil Nadu and the armed forces will also be presented at the seminar. Janki Andharia, dean of the School of Disaster Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, will offer an academic view of disaster relief operations.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate an exhibition showcasing equipment used for disaster management, and a host of Ministers and top civil servants from the State will be taking part in the seminar, further cementing the robust civil-military relationship in the State, Commodore Kumar said.
The skill demo will also comprise the setting up of a model disaster relief camp for internally displaced people and a field hospital which will be set up by the Army. A Naval ship, converted into a hospital vessel, will be berthed at the BTP Jetty.
“A key aspect of the exercise is training in disaster relief ops imparted to citizen volunteers and cadets of the NCC by the State Disaster Management Authority, Directorate of Health Services, and the Fire and Rescue Services. The field hospital, disaster relief camp, and exhibition will be open to public viewing on April 6, 7 and 8,” said Commodore Kumar.
He added that Cyclone Ockhi was unique on many counts. It defied history, geography and scientific forecast to wreck havoc in a manner that was unprecedented. The Navy fought the odds to send out its vessels and aircraft, but the extreme weather conditions only allowed them to make slow progress. “Internationally, search and rescue operations last 96 hours, but we carried out the operations for 30 days in which search was conducted over 4.5 lakh square miles of the sea,” he said.
