Hundreds of residents of Fort Kochi area participated in the tsunami mock drill that was staged at the Fort Kochi beach on Thursday.
The exercise started with an official announcing that a tsunami alert has been received at the Revenue Divisional Office. The official gave the alert call through a hand-held public announcement system at 4.05 p.m. With the announcement of the evacuation being made, trained volunteers and various law enforcing agencies sprung into action for evacuating people from the shores of the beach and nearby areas.
A pregnant woman was carried in a stretcher to a waiting ambulance even as hundreds of others moved to safe places on receiving the alert. City police, Fire and Rescue Service, Indian Cost Guard, State Health Department and Revenue officials led the evacuation process.
The mock drill was part of the preparedness programme, which is jointly implemented in the city by the UNDP, the State government, the Kochi City Disaster Management Cell and the Cochin Social Service Society.
Mayor Tony Chammany, Deputy Mayor B. Bhadra, Standing Committee chairpersons K.J. Sohan, Soumini Jain and T.K. Ashraf, UNDP Project Officer Tinu Rose Francis, Division Councillor Antony Kureethara and Fr. Marian Arakkal of the society were among those who took part.
