The usually vibrant courtyard of Springdales School carried a different energy today. Schoolchildren, teachers, and civic leaders stood shoulder to shoulder as Delhi took a historic step towards resilience. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Delhi Government formally launched the “Disaster-Ready Schools Campaign”, a massive initiative that will train 16.5 lakh students and 60,000 teachers in disaster preparedness.
The event was graced by Lieutenant Governor Vinai Saxena, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Education Minister Ashish Sood, and senior NDMA officials. A live earthquake mock drill brought the message home — children calmly evacuated classrooms, assembled in safe zones, and proved that preparedness is not theory, but practice.
Education Minister Ashish Sood’s words resonated deeply: “Schools are not just buildings, they are the first centres for building a culture of safety. Students should not panic — they should understand the situation and respond correctly.” He reminded the audience that Delhi lies in Seismic Zone-4, where high-magnitude earthquakes are possible, and recalled the tremors of February 2025 as a wake-up call.
But the campaign goes beyond earthquakes. Heat waves, fires, industrial hazards, crowd risks, and even digital-age threats like bomb hoax calls are being woven into the preparedness framework. Sood urged teachers to become “Safety Mentors” and students to embrace their role as “future disaster warriors.”
For many children present, the drill was their first taste of structured disaster training. For Delhi, it was a promise — that every school will not only be smart, but safe. The campaign, spanning 2,082 schools in its first phase, is set to become a national prototype for urban India, blending civic responsibility with youthful energy.
—The End
