Mock drills simulating multiple hostile scenarios conducted across country

New Delhi | Mock drills simulating multiple hostile scenarios like air raids, multiple fire emergencies, and search and rescue operations among others were carried out in several states and Union Territories (UTs) as part of the nationwide mega civil defence mock drill 'Operation Abhyaas'.

The mock drills took place a few hours after the Indian military launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in a strong response to the terror attack in Pahalgam. The April 22 attack, carried out by the terror organisation The Resistance Front, killed 26 civilians.

The drill took place in several states and UTs including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.

In the national capital Delhi, PCR vans and fire engines were stationed at multiple locations while there was a heavy deployment of security personnel and civil defence volunteers.

Blaring sirens, residents rushing to safer places, injured people being carried away on stretchers -- these were some of the scenes that played out across the 55 locations where mock security drills were carried out by authorities in Delhi.

Delhi Fire Services cranes were used to reach high-rise buildings and evacuate people who were "trapped".

Sirens were sounded at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Fire brigade teams rushed to the spot along with a team of doctors and multiple ambulances.

Students and teachers across Delhi took part in the safety drill aimed at strengthening emergency preparedness that included practising orderly evacuations, taking shelter under desks, and switching off electrical appliances when the siren sounded.

In an unprecedented sight later in the evening, a 15-minute power blackout was observed in many areas of the national capital, including entire Lutyens' Delhi.

The exercise left the New Delhi area housing Parliament, India Gate, embassies and key administrative buildings dark as part of a nationwide civil defence mock drill.

The blackout, which took place from 8 pm to 8.15 pm, was carried out by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to simulate emergency wartime conditions.

The nationwide drill was conducted on the instructions of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which had asked all states and Union Territories to organise such exercises in light of the "new and complex threats" following the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.

Training of civilians in the event of hostile attacks, provision of crash blackout measures, early camouflaging of vital installations, verifying the response of civil defence services, evaluating the preparedness of evacuation plans and their execution were also noted to be examined during the drill.

Close to 300 'civil defence districts' across the country with sensitive installations like nuclear plants, military bases, refineries and hydroelectric dams were covered by mock drills on air-raid warning sirens, civilian training for a "hostile attack" and cleaning of bunkers and trenches.

In Punjab, mock drills simulating emergency scenarios, like fire emergencies, and rescue operations were performed in Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Bathinda, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Patiala, Pathankot, Barnala and Mohali.

Mumbai saw mock drills at strategic locations, including the railway stations.

A civil defence team from the Central Railway organised a mock drill at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), one of the busiest stations and the site of the 26/11 terrorist attack, to test the preparedness of security forces in case of an emergency.

CSMT is one of the country's busiest railway hubs and was the site of the deadly terrorist attacks in November 2008. Every day, lakhs of suburban commuters and outstation passengers travel through this station.

In Bengaluru, authorities carried out a large-scale civil defence mock drill at various locations in the city.

According to officials, soon after the siren blew at 3.48 pm in various locations, the civil defence personnel, police, fire and emergency services personnel swung into action. The drill went on for about half-an-hour.

Senior officials held security drills at two key installations in Tamil Nadu -- the Madras Atomic Power Station at Kalpakkam and the Chennai port.

Mock drill was staged in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam with personnel from several departments enacting rescue operations amid a simulated bomb attack scenario.

Rehearsals were conducted across Hyderabad, the Telangana capital, to test emergency preparedness.

Rescue personnel evacuated people and shifted the 'injured' in civil defence mock drills involving the police, fire services, and disaster response forces in four locations in the city.

Mock drills were held at important locations in 14 districts of Kerala.

At the Collectorate building in Ernakulam, the drill started with an alarm and the lights were switched off.

In the eastern part of the country, evacuation drills were conducted by four private schools in Kolkata. The drills were conducted at DPS-Ruby Park, La Martiniere for Boys, La Martiniere for Girls and Future Foundation School.

In Ranchi, the exercise was held in Doranda area, under drizzling weather conditions. Traffic routes were diverted to facilitate the simulation.

Civil defence mock drills were conducted in 12 districts of Odisha which included Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur and Rourkela.

The Assam Police's Home Guard and Civil Defence wing led the drill in association with various other agencies like fire services, health department, disaster management, BSNL and DIPR, among others.

Mock drills were carried out at a few designated locations in Mizoram's Aizawl -- in a two-km stretch between the All India Radio (AIR) station at Tuikhuahtlang locality and Aizawl civil hospital in Dawrpui, an official said.

As part of the exercise, there was a blackout for five minutes from 6:30 pm to 6:35 pm in Aizawl, he said.