Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search & Rescue (SCOJtEx-2019) on November 4 at Dr Ambedkar International Center, New Delhi, the statement said.
On the initiative of Government of India, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is hosting “Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Joint Urban Earthquake Search and Rescue Exercise (SCOJtEx.)-2019” of all 8 SCO member countries, with the aim to rehearse the disaster response mechanism, share knowledge, experience, technology & also for mutual coordination, etc. This exercise shall also provide an opportunity to enhance the coordination & co-operation involving multi-agency operations in an earthquake scenario, it said.
The four-day long simulation exercise shall be held from November 4-7 at Delhi. The participants of all 8 member countries namely China, India, Kazakhastan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan shall be participating in this exercise.
The four-day long simulation exercise shall be conducted as per the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) methodology and guidelines. There will be a Joint Urban Earthquake Search and Rescue Exercise for Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states followed by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization experts meeting of Ministries responsible for Prevention and Elimination of Emergency Situation, it added.
The main focus of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search and Rescue (SCOJtEx-2019) shall be to test the region’s preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of Inter- governmental interaction for immediate response.
Besides, representatives from INSARAG, Asian Coordination Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA), Brazil, Mongolia, South Africa have been invited as observers. Representatives from the embassies of all SCO member nations, heads of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and representatives of other stakeholders shall also be participating in this exercise, it said.
