Prayagraj,

06 Jan (HS): Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) Phulpur unit

successfully conducted a Level-3 off-site emergency mock drill in collaboration

with the district administration. The objective of this exercise was to test

the effectiveness of preparedness, rapid response, coordination and public

safety measures in the event of a potential industrial disaster, both inside

and outside the plant. Mock drill was conducted in accordance with the

statutory requirements for major accident-prone establishments under the

Factories Act, 1948, the Uttar Pradesh Factories Rules, 1950, and MSIHC Rules, 1989.

During

the mock drill, a hypothetical two-stage ammonia leak from an ammonia storage

tank was simulated. The initial phase of the incident was contained within the

plant boundary, with General Manager (Unit Head), IFFCO Phulpur, P.K. Singh,

acting as the chief incident controller. According to the scenario, situation

was transformed into an off-site emergency, after which Naib Tehsildar RK

Shukla, representing the District Magistrate, Prayagraj, acted as the Chief

Incident Controller.

Chief

Fire Officer, Prayagraj, Chandra Mohan Sharma, and Assistant Director,

Factories, Navdeep Srivastava, participated as government officials in this

mock drill. The Chief Fire Officer emphasized human safety, as well as animal

safety, including providing fodder and water for them, and coordinating with

local bodies. He also emphasized that all family members should be trained for

such emergency scenarios and carry essential daily medications with them during

evacuation. The Assistant Director, Factories, also emphasized the importance

of raising awareness among women and children about disaster management and

involving them in such exercises.

Observers

from IOCL, Tata Power, HPCL, and GAIL were also present during the mock drill

and observed the exercise. Following the mock drill, a review meeting was held

to discuss future corrective measures. During this, General Managers

respectively Sanjay Bhandari, Dr. Anita Mishra, P.K. Patel, Ratnesh Kumar, JGMs

respectively Arun Kumar, P.K. Verma, Dr. Satya Prakash, R.P. Yadav, P.K.

Tripathi, Sandeep Goel, HOD Human Resources Shambhu Shekhar, Chief Manager Fire

and Safety Sanjiv Kumar, Akhilesh Nigam, Mohammad Irshad NTPC Meja, Senior

Manager GAIL Vinod Kumar, Manager GAIL Lokesh Kumar Singh, S.S. Alok PPGCL

Bara, Alok Kumar Singh, Kishan Kumar, Vedprakash Verma and others were present.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi