Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, July 3: Various aspects of disaster management preparedness for Shri Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage were reviewed at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Ramesh Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.
The Chief Executive Officer reviewed in detail various components of the Disaster Management Plan and the measures being taken to further strengthen it continuously, wherever required, particularly with a view to ensure quick and most effective response from all concerned in the wake of any fire incident, earthquake, landslides or any other emergency situation.
The CEO emphasised that the mock drills be carried out at regular intervals so that Disaster Management teams of the Shrine Board and all other stakeholders respond to any disaster situation forthwith. He said that the Fire and Emergency Services Department will be approached for conducting fire audit of the track and the Shrine area to further strengthen fire safety measures. He also focussed on need of adhering to the SOPs formulated for disaster preparedness.
The CEO said that to further augment the Disaster Management preparedness, a comprehensive inventory audit of the Disaster Management Stores set up by the Shrine Board at various locations on the track and in the Bhawan area will be conducted and, wherever need be, these stores will be further replenished and strengthened by adding latest gadgetry and equipments. He added that once the situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic further normalises, the training workshops for the staff of the Shrine Board will be organised by associating domain specific expert agencies.
It is pertinent to mention that as part of its continuing effort towards Disaster Management preparedness, the Shrine Board from time to time has been imparting advanced training to its staff in various aspects of preparedness and management of disaster situations on continuous basis.
The functioning of Joint Control Rooms at Bhawan, Adhkuwari and Katra and various other components of Disaster Management Plan also came up for review at the meeting.
Among those who participated in the meeting, included Vivek Verma, Additional CEO of the Shrine Board; Dr Sunil Sharma, Dr Jagdish Mehra, Deepak Dubey and Vishavjeet Singh, Dy CEOs; besides the officials of Fire and Emergency Services, Station Bhawan and Station Katra.
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