Chandigarh, May 11 (PTI) The Haryana government has initiated a comprehensive statewide disaster preparedness exercise aimed at strengthening emergency response mechanisms across all departments and districts.
Financial Commissioner, Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Sumita Misra, has issued detailed directives to senior officers across the state for the effective implementation of the Haryana State Disaster Response Manual under the Incident Response System (IRS).
The initiative — aimed at minimising loss of life, infrastructure and property — is designed to ensure quicker, more coordinated and efficient administrative response during disasters and emergencies.
The IRS, constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, has already been notified at both the state and district levels in Haryana.
The framework provides a structured mechanism for command, coordination and resource management during emergencies, an official statement said here on Monday.
Misra said that the IRS framework clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of every stakeholder, enabling departments to function in a synchronised manner during situations such as floods, heatwaves, industrial accidents and other emergencies.
The Haryana State Disaster Response Manual has been prepared in line with the guidelines of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India, and serves as a comprehensive operational guide for officers involved in disaster management across the state.
As Incident Commander at the state level, Sumita Misra has written to Administrative Secretaries of 24 key stakeholder departments, directing them to ensure that designated officers are fully acquainted with their responsibilities.
The departments include Home, Environment & Forest, Transport, Civil Aviation, Finance, Police, Irrigation, Agriculture, School Education, Health, Energy, Urban Local Bodies, Fire & Emergency Services, Public Health Engineering and Women & Child Development, among others.
The move is expected to strengthen inter-departmental coordination and institutional readiness across the state administration.
In another important direction, Misra has also written to all 23 Deputy Commissioners of Haryana, who function as Responsible Officers under the IRS framework at the district level.
The Deputy Commissioners have been asked to ensure that all designated officers understand their assigned responsibilities and that regular training programmes and mock drills are conducted to maintain operational readiness.
Officers have also been instructed to strengthen district-level disaster response capabilities to ensure prompt action and better coordination during emergencies.
Misra said that the state government, in coordination with the National Disaster Management Authority, is conducting a state-level mock exercise on a flood disaster scenario on May 14, 2026, across 13 flood-prone districts of Haryana.
These districts are Gurugram, Ambala, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panchkula, Panipat, Palwal, Sirsa, Sonipat, and Yamunanagar. PTI SUN SHS SHS
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