UN envoy applauds Delhi's efforts to prepare people for possible catastrophes
By TIOL News Service WASHINGTON, FEB 17, 2012: THE head of the United Nations office for disaster risk reduction has welcomed the mass earthquake drill organized by Indian authorities in Delhi and encouraged all high seismic cities to follow the city's example to better prepare for possible catastrophes. More than 40,000 people took part in the drill to check the alertness and preparedness of the 16.7 million people living in the Indian capital in the event of 7.2-magnitude quake.
Margareta Wahlström, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, welcomed the drill, which was the culmination of the country's first-ever State-wide earthquake preparedness exercise which got underway last December. She said that mock drills are a good opportunity to identify gaps in preparedness planning. More than 370 million people live in earthquake-prone cities around the world and there are mass casualties on a regular basis from earthquakes.
The city is classified as a high-risk seismic zone, ranking four on a five-point scale by the United States Geological Survey. The two-hour disaster simulation, organized by the National Disaster Management Authority and the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, was conducted across hundreds of schools, hospitals, cinemas, resident welfare associations, government office buildings, markets, and petrol pumps.
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