The Haryana government on Thursday carried out a state-level mock drill across 13 flood-prone districts with an eye on strengthening disaster preparedness and emergency response systems ahead of monsoons.
Financial commissioner, revenue (FCR), Sumita Misra, said the exercise aimed at drawing lessons from the floods of 2023 and 2025 and strengthening the state’s disaster management preparedness.
The FCR who led the exercise from the state control room said the mock drill was conducted in Gurugram, Ambala, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panchkula, Panipat, Palwal, Sirsa, Sonepat and Yamunanagar, which have been identified as high flood-risk districts. She said that two separate simulation sites were identified in each district to test response mechanisms under realistic flood scenarios.
Misra said the exercise was conducted to evaluate the state’s disaster preparedness systems, improve inter-departmental coordination, validate emergency response mechanisms and identify gaps requiring improvement. An official spokesperson said the exercise was conducted in three phases. The first phase involved an orientation and coordination conference held via video conferencing on May 6, followed by a tabletop exercise on May 12 to review response scenarios, communication protocols and preparedness plans. The final phase involved live field simulations and deployment of agencies on Wednesday.
The simulated scenario assumed heavy monsoon rainfall and rising water levels in major rivers, including the Yamuna, Ghaggar, Tangri and Markanda, leading to flood-like situations, urban waterlogging, disruption of communication systems and damage to infrastructure, the spokesperson said.
In Karnal, an exercise was conducted at Japti Chapra village in Indri sub-division, where additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Rahul Raiya visited the affected site. According to the mock scenario, farmers in the village were trapped in floodwaters. Immediately after the incident, the district administration activated the emergency operations centre.
In a joint rescue operation, agencies safely evacuated the farmers and transported them to Indri civil hospital. ADC Raiya said the mock drill evaluated preparedness for potential flood situations in the district. In Kurukshetra, deputy commissioner Vishram Kumar Meena said a similar drill was organised in Jhansa village of Pehowa sub-division and Tangor village of Shahabad.
Teams from the SDRF, NDRF, police, health department, and fire and emergency services conducted search and rescue simulations, evacuation drills, relief camp management exercises, and medical response operations across identified districts. Senior disaster management experts, including Brigadier Ravinder Gurung (retd), a senior consultant with NDMA, supervised the exercise from the state headquarters, the spokesperson said.
