Port Blair, Jan. 31: The Andaman & Nicobar Islands are prone to Geological and Hydro-meteorological disasters and located in one of the most seismically active parts of the world and several great earthquakes have occurred in the past. Andaman & Nicobar Islands runs accurately parallel to the boundary separating the Australian and Eurasian plates in the Indian Ocean that are continuously jostling with each other. These Islands are mostly susceptible to very high intensity of seismicity and as per the seismic zoning map of India contained in IS 1893 -1984, Islands are classified in seismic Zone - V.

The A&N Administration in coordination with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will be conducting UT/ State Level Mock Exercise (ME) on Earthquake followed by Tsunami Disaster scenario which will be held in all Districts/ Sub-Divisions/Tehsils/Islands in this UT on Feb.9, 2023.

For the smooth conduct of the proposed Mock Exercise, an orientation and coordination conference was held today in virtual mode which was conducted by Maj. Genl. Sudhir Bahl (Retd.), Sr. Consultant, NDMA, MHA, New Delhi and was chaired by Shri A.S.P.S. Ravi Prakash, IAS, Secretary (Disaster Management), A&N Administration on behalf of A&N Administration and also attended by Shri Nitin Shakya, Director (Disaster Management) alongwith other stakeholders viz. A&N Command, INCOIS, Indian Coast Guard (AN), 04th Bn NDRF Arrakkonam, COM BSNL, all Deputy Commissioners and Nodal Officers of all Department/ Stakeholders. The Sr. Consultant (NDMA) briefed about conduction & preparation of Mock Exercise at UT & District level and outlined modalities and preparation required for the proposed Mock Exercise. He also discussed on the overall scenarios for the mock exercise, considering the vulnerability of this UT and also evaluated various scenarios/simulation expected in each District/ Islands participating in the Mock Exercise in coordination with the Union Territory Disaster Management Authority (UTDMA).