The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is undertaking multi-state mega mock exercises, covering the eight states of the NE region, on March 10 and 13 next to assess the gap in the earthquake preparedness plans of the region. Disclosing this at a media sensitisation workshop here today, NDMA member T Nanda Kumar told the media persons that the preparedness of the NE states would be assessed with the 8.7 magnitude-strong 1897 great Shillong earthquake scenario in the background. Salient features of the mock exercise project include – preparedness, mitigation, response, awareness, school sensitisation programme, generating mass awareness, rapid visual screening of lifeline buildings and capacity development programme, said the NDMA member. Mega mock exercises are scheduled to be undertaken at 11.30 am of March 10 and 13 covering the NE states in two groups. The exercises will be carried out at the state capitals and district headquarter towns of these states on those days. Group –I states, which include Arunachal Pradesh (Itanagar and Ziro), Assam (Guwahati and Jorhat), Meghalaya (Shillong and Tura) and Sikkim (Gangtok and Mangan), will be covered on March 10. Group –II states, which include Assam (Silchar), Nagaland (Dimapur and Kohima), Manipur (Imphal and Thoubal), Tripura (Agartala and Ambassa) and Mizoram (Aizawl and Serchhip), will be covered on March 13, said Nanda Kumar. He said that the exercises planned for the eight NE states are the largest ones so far that involve eight states. During the past few years, he said, disasters are on the rise in the globe. Earthquakes equal to or lesser than 7 in magnitude, occurred in past few years in the Himalayan region. “Since earthquakes come without any warning, we need to find out the gaps in our preparedness plans and then to plug those gaps to make our earthquake preparedness flawless to the best level,” he said. NE India is one of the most earthquake-prone areas of the world and it is assumed that if an earthquake of the magnitude of 8.7 on the Richter scale occurs in Assam at present, it will result in injuries to 40,00,000 people and death to 6,00,000 people. This would induce a large number of landslides as the region is landslide-prone, he said. The exercises planned for March 10 and 13 are aimed at understanding the direct and indirect consequences of such a big earthquake, updating response plans at various levels, assessing the coordination among the district disaster management authorities, state disaster management authorities, NDMA and all the stakeholders and generating awareness among the people, among others, he said.