NDMA conducts its first-ever Mock Exercise on Bio-Disasters at Patna airport

The National Disaster Response Authority (NDMA) conducted its first ever mock exercise aimed at enhancing preparedness of Airport Emergency Handlers (AEHs) to respond to CBRN emergencies at airports. CBRN emergencies pertain to threats emanating due to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear material.

Key Facts

The training programme was conducted at Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport in Patna, Bihar in collaboration with Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences (INMAS).  During the training, NDMA jointly with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) conducted its first-ever full-scale Biological Management Emergency Exercise.
The exercise was based on suspected Ebola outbreak scenario. The mock drills with simulated situations of biological disasters are conducted by NDRF regularly to fine tune response mechanism in case of threats arising out of usage of biological agents.
Stakeholders from several departments, including Airport Management, Health and Medical services, Fire Services, State Disaster Management Authority, Customs, Immigration and Disease Surveillance units participated in the mock exercise.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)

It is statutory body under aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Its provisions are envisaged in Disaster Management Act, 2005. It was established in 2009. Its mandate is to coordinate response to natural or man-made disasters and capacity-building in case of disaster resiliency and crisis response. It is governed by a 9 member board chaired by the Prime Minister of India. At present for its smooth functioning it consists of ten battalions of Central Armed Police Forces, including three each of Border Security force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and two each of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2018