Be prepared: Rescue exercises held ahead of flood season

Officials of various departments participate in the exercises


Our Correspondents June 02, 2016
Rescue 1122 officals demonstrate during a training session. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD UMAIR/EXPRESS

KHANEWAL/BAHAWALPUR: Rescue-1122 and district administrations in south Punjab have been organising mock rescues to ensure preparedness in the wake of possible floods during Monsoon season this year.

On Thursday, Rescue-1122 organised a pre-flood mock emergency at Head Sidhnai.

The idea was to check whether they could handle expected flood threats and handle rescue operations.

Officials of the district government supervised the exercise. Officials of several departments including Agriculture, Civil Defence, Health and Irrigation Departments joined the exercise.

The Rescue-1122 has set up several camps and a control room in view of a possible flood situation. District Emergency Officer Danish Khalil visited mock exercise.  He said, “The purpose of conducting such exercises is to enhance coordination among departments and be prepared to handle any untoward situation.”

On Wednesday, an exercise was held on the banks of Sutlej River near the Empress Bridge. Rescue-1122 officials practiced rescuing drowning people, providing them first aid and taking them to medical centres.

The mock exercises held in Bahawalpur were supervised by Additional District Collector Imrana Ajmal.

Officials of the Pakistan Army, the Rangers, the Elite Force, the police, the Citizen Defence Organisation’s volunteers, the Health Department, the Rescue-1122, the Veterinary and the TMA City Departments participated in the exercises.

Ajmal expressed satisfaction over the arrangements to countering a possible flood situation and safety precautions by the officials.

She said the first mock exercise was conducted in April on directions of the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and the second exercise was conducted on Wednesday.

“Such exercise can help improve the capacity of departments who have to deal with emergency situations,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3rd, 2016.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ