Sirens, simulated bombing attacks, evacuations, control room preparedness: Pune sees mock drills at 6 places under ‘Op Abhyas'
Amidst heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following New Delhi's retaliatory strike Operation Sindoor, the nationwide civil defence mock drills named 'Operation Abhyas' were held in Pune simultaneously at six different locations on Wednesday.
The mock drills featured simulated bombing attacks and subsequent search and rescue, casualty evacuation and fire brigade operations. The drills were also aimed at assessment of the control rooms and shadow control rooms, dissemination of information through radio communication and overall emergency response time.
The drills were held at the Council Hall, Vanaz Industrial Estate, Pune Municipal Corporation, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, Mulshi Panchayat Samiti and Talegaon Municipal Council.
Briefing the media after the drill at the Council Hall, District Collector Jitendra Dudi said, 'The mock drills at these six locations covered the scenarios for urban, rural, small town and industrial settings. NDRF, revenue department and civic bodies, fire brigade, health department, NCC and NSS cadets participated in the exercise. The drills started with a siren followed by simulation of a bomb attack. It consisted of scenarios of some people managing to reach to safety and some others getting stuck. The search, rescue and evacuation of those trapped were done in a coordinated manner by NDRF and other agencies. Fire brigade and health department responded too. We have assessed the response time. The entire operation was concluded in around 25 minutes.'
'In Mulshi and Talegaon, where we simulated the rural and small town scenarios, and at Vanaz estate, where we simulated an industrial scenario, the systems functioned as per the set schedule. From the beginning, our plan was to conduct the drill at six locations. However, we had tactically announced just three in the beginning to check how quickly the preparations can be done at other three locations. Thus at the other three locations the agencies got ready in around four hours. So the mock drill under 'Operation Abhyas' was conducted successfully at six locations in the district,' he added.
'There are 76 locations where sirens are located. But the mock drills will not be conducted at all these places. We have completed the drill at six locations and, if there are further directions from the government to conduct more, we will prepare accordingly. We have to clarify that there are no directions till now to carry out blackout drills in Pune,' he said.
For the NCC cadets who participated, the drill became an important life lesson. 'We have been preparing for something like this since day one of our training. Today felt different. This is the day we've been training for,' NCC cadet Shivani Waghmare said. 'As soon as we entered the Council Hall, everything felt real. We had no time to think, only to act. And in those moments, we felt the weight of responsibility,' said Sanskriti Hande, another NCC cadet.
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