Mock drill on Chemical Disaster held in Verka Milk plant; 21 departments including NDRF, fire brigade play active role to sentise public  

Ludhiana, March 6, 2025: A state level mock drill on chemical disaster (ammonia gas leak) was organised at Verka Milk plant on Thursday morning to demonstrate self-protection and prevention measures in case of chemical emergencies.

The mock drill alarm was sounded at 9:30 am and 21 departments including National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), fire brigade, district administration, Municipal Corporation (MC), police, health department etc participated actively in the mock drill. 

The mock exercise was organised by the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in coordination with the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). ADC (Khanna) Shikha Bhagat was the incident commander for the mock drill. MC Additional Commissioner Paramdeep Singh, ACP Narinder Singh Aujla, NDRF nodal officer Pankaj Kumar, MC Assistant Commissioner Neeraj Jain, ADFO Maninder Singh among other senior officials were present during the mock drill which was coordinated by Consultant, Disaster Management (SDMA) Ram Chander.

Soon after the mock drill alarm was sounded, an incident command post was established inside the Verka milk plant and nodal officers of all the respective departments reported at the same. Following this, demonstrations were held by the fire brigade, NDRF etc to deal with the chemical disaster (ammonia gas leak). Demonstrations were also held for minimizing damage, safeguarding lives and how people could be rescued and treated in case of a chemical emergency. The officials were also in touch with the SDMA regarding the mock drill online and the reports regarding the mock drill were submitted with SDMA on the spot. A debriefing session was also held.  

ADC Shikha Bhagat said that the mock drill was held with an aim to sensitise the public and to reduce the response time in case any chemical emergency is reported in the district. Lauding the efforts put in by different departments, ADC Bhagat said that various departments participated actively and gave demonstrations for minimising damage and safeguarding lives.