The Mysuru division of South Western Railway conducted a disaster management drill at Sakleshpur railway station in Hassan district on Saturday, by creating a scenario of a major train accident. The personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Fire and Emergency Services, and other State agencies were part of the mock drill.
As part of the mock drill, conducted to evaluate the disaster management plan and check the preparedness of the agencies, a scenario of a train accident involving two general sleeper class passenger coaches of a summer special train heading towards Mangaluru was created. The train derailed and overturned.
As per the disaster management plan, the railway officials sprung into action as soon as they received information about the incident. A team of NDRF personnel, led by Shantilal Jhatia, Assistant Commandant, and Fire and Emergency Services, led by forest officer Shafiq Ahmed, were at the spot within 15 minutes. Similarly, medical teams from Railway Hospital rushed to the spot, administered first aid to the injured, and joined hands with other personnel to rescue trapped passengers. Hassan Deputy Commissioner C. Sathyabhama also visited the spot to assess the situation.
Shilpi Agarwal, DRM of Mysuru Division, oversaw the rescue operations from Mysuru along with Vinayak Nayak, Additional DRM, and other officials. Vijaya, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, J. Lohiteshwara, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Bharat Tiwari, Senior Divisional Engineer; and others rushed to the site to oversee rescue operations. The operation was completed in 110 minutes.
Shilpi Agarwal highlighted the critical role of periodic drills in improving preparedness and minimizing the impact. She stressed the importance of adhering to appropriate methodologies during the exercise. A comprehensive disaster management plan had been prepared to deal with emergency situations effectively, according to a press release issued by the Mysuru Division.
