India to hold first BIMSTEC exercise from Oct 10

The first 'BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017' will be conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the lead agency from October 10-13. According to an official statement, the exercise, to be held here and in the National Capital Region (NCR), will be a platform for sharing Best Practices on all aspects of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), strengthening regional response and coordination for Disaster Management among the BIMSTEC member countries.

Delegates from all seven nations of the 'Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation' (BIMSTEC) grouping, including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and senior officers from the Nodal Ministries are participating in the event. The main focus of BIMSTEC DMEx-2017 will be on testing the region's preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of inter-Governmental interaction and agreements for immediate deployment of regional resources for disaster response. It will help create synergy and synchronise the efforts to institutionalise regional cooperation among the member countries.

The exercise will help strengthen the effective utilisation of the Search & Rescue Teams for Disaster Relief and Emergency Response, including Emergency Rapid Assessment Teams and Management of mass casualties, especially in situations involving breakdown of infrastructure and communication.

BIMSTEC region is home to around 1.5 billion people, constituting around 22 per cent of the global population with a combined GDP of USD 2.7 trillion economy. Majority of the BIMSTEC countries are situated in the South Asian Region (SAR), prone to natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, earthquakes, avalanches and drought.