Joint HADR Exercise commences at Naval Station Karwar

The Annual Joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise began on 18 May 2017 at Naval Station Karwar.

Named as 'Karavali Karunya', the exercise is being conducted by Indian Navy’s Western Naval Command. It involves both professional exchange and actual disaster response mechanisms which is set on a Tsunami disaster scenario.

Kravali Karunya means 'assistance to the coast of Karnataka'. It will see the armed forces, central government agencies and state government departments working together to provide relief in a post-tsunami scenario.

Two first-hand accounts of actual Tsunami relief operations of 2004 were presented by Rear Admiral Suraj Berry and Colonel Vikram Sharma, who brought out the real scenario of 2004 Tsunami Hit areas in Sri Lanka and Andaman and Nicobar Islands respectively.

The proceedings of the day also included setting up of Internally Displaced People camp and static display. The Camp at Rabindranath Tagore Beach will be open to public.

During the exercise, there will also be a demonstration using aircraft, a pollution control ship and survey ships.