Organization of table top exercise with the aim of better disaster management during Mahakumbh.

Prayagraj. In Prayagraj district, a tabletop exercise meeting was organized with the aim of improving the disaster management proceedings during Mahakumbh 2025 in the police line and training auditorium of the fair area. Vice Chairman of Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, Lieutenant General Yogendra Dimri, P.V.S. M, AVSM, VSM, (Retd.), Vijay Vishwas Pant, IAS, Divisional Commissioner Prayagraj, ADG Zone Prayagraj, Bhanu Bhaskar, IPS, Prayagraj was done in the presence of Police Commissioner Tarun Gaba, IPS and Fair Officer Vijay Kiran Anand, IAS.

Addressing the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Authority, Lieutenant General Yogendra Dimri said that disaster management has special importance to make the Maha Kumbh event smooth and safe. There is a need to pay attention to all aspects of disaster management, in which an important aspect is mutual coordination and prior practice of all departments and agencies. In comparison to the Kumbh of 2019, today there has been a massive increase in the resources of the state.

Our SDRF is fully resourced and trained and is deployed shoulder to shoulder with the NDRF. Similarly, the resources of PAC, fire fighting and water police have been increased so that the disaster situation can be minimized. Now more than 10,000 youth in the state have been trained as Aapda Mitras who will volunteer with the administration for disaster management work in Mahakumbh-2025.

The program was started by Shri. The keynote address was delivered by Rajendra Singh, PTM, TM, Member and Head of Department, National Disaster Management Authority, New Delhi. Rajendra Singh said that organizing tabletop exercise for disaster management in big events like Maha Kumbh by UPSDMA will help all the agencies to assess the effectiveness of the disaster management plan and identify the shortcomings and areas of improvement in their planning preparations. It will also serve as a case study for other states.

Vijay Vishwas Pant, IAS, Divisional Commissioner Prayagraj, IAS, in his address said that the main objective of the table top exercise is to educate all the stakeholders about quick and integrated response and its management during a possible disaster in the fair area for better disaster management during Mahakumbh 2025. The aim was to create awareness so that during any disaster, all departments are able to respond with mutual coordination.

Director General of NDRF, Shri Piyush Anand, IPS said that in big events like Maha Kumbh, the role of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is very important in disaster management and tabletop exercise exercise. NDRF has extensive experience in dealing with natural disasters (e.g. floods, earthquakes) and man-made disasters (e.g. fires, stampedes, CBRN). NDRF will work in an integrated manner with all agencies.

Today's tabletop exercise included representatives from the National Disaster Management Authority, New Delhi, Government of India, National Disaster Response Force, New Delhi, Department of Atomic Energy, Defense Research and Development Organisation, New Delhi, Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Indian Representatives of the Army and Indian Railways and senior officials of the Fair Authority, officials of Revenue Department, Police Department, Fire Department, Police Traffic, Communication, Medical and Health and other departments of Prayagraj district and SDRF officers and officers of District Disaster Management Authority Prayagraj, Mathura, Chitrakoot, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Shravasti, Mirzapur and Gorakhpur were also present. The tabletop exercise was conducted by Brigadier Ajay Gangwar, Advisor, UPSDMA, Dr. Ashu Pandey, Chief Medical Officer Prayagraj and Fire Officer, Mr. Pramod Kumar Sharma.

The tabletop exercise was conducted in three sessions. In the first session, the status of foot and vehicle traffic, essential services and other arrangements in the fair area was discussed. In the second session, crowd management in the main roads of Prayagraj district, railway station, bus stand etc. outside the fair area was discussed. In the third session, the departments' plans and responses to potential fire, drowning and health risk situations within the fair area were discussed.

ADG Zone Prayagraj, Shri Bhanu Bhaskar, IASG said that in view of Mahakumbh 2025, all possible threats have been assessed and a total of more than 37 thousand police personnel will be deployed for the security of the devotees during the fair. He also said that the parking space and traffic plan for the passengers coming from different routes have been made as per the convenience of the passengers. This time, for security reasons, posts have been placed on both sides of all the pontoon bridges. During the Maha Kumbh, all security agencies have been instructed to work in mutual coordination.

Prayagraj Police Commissioner Shri Tarun Gaba, IPS said that this tabletop exercise plays an important role in view of possible disaster in the fair area. The information given to all sector magistrates and departmental officers on how to react during a disaster will be extremely helpful in making Maha Kumbh 2025 smooth and safe.

While completing the tabletop exercise, the Honorable Vice President said that digital technology has been used significantly for disaster management. 2500 cameras, digital communication, chat bot, integrated control and AI technology are being used for crowd management. For quick and effective response, now a mock exercise will be organized in various sectors of the fair area on 24 December 2024 and all departmental activities and preparations will be implemented at the ground level.