Three tourists enjoying Someshwar beach ran away leaving behind their mobile phones and other things behind on hearing a police warning about tsunami on Thursday. It took some time for them to realise that it was a tsunami drill.
They were among others who got anxious following the drill on facing tsunami conducted by the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority in association with revenue, fire and emergency services, police, transport, health and other departments. The operation was conducted simultaneously in Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts and was overseen by Revenue Secretary (Disaster Management) Ganga Ram Badeira from Karwar.
Following a meeting on Wednesday morning at the office of the Deputy Commissioner, announcements were made in localities near Someshwar beach about the exercise. The residents of around 300 houses staying near the beach were asked to be ready around 12 p.m. to be moved to a nearby English-medium school that was earmarked as a temporary relief centre.
Soon after alerts of tsunami were issued, around 30 vehicles were sent to Someshwar beach road and Bettampady village nearby. Police and Fire and Emergency services personnel too went to those areas. Around noon, first batch of residents were moved to the relief centre. These were followed by few more vehicles filled with few residents.
While Additional Deputy Commissioner Kumar acted as the Incident Commander, Assistant Commissioner D.R. Ashok acted as Deputy Incident Commander. K.K. Pradeep from State Disaster Management Authority coordinated the exercise. As many as 32 personnel from National Disaster Response Force also took part in the exercise.
The operation was conducted simultaneously in Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts
