Mock Drill in India Today: Know Timings, States & District List, Rules and Regulations, other details
Following a May 5 directive by the Ministry of Home Affairs amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, several parts of the country are set to conduct mock drill exercises on Wednesday.
These drills, codenamed 'Operation Abhyas' will be part of a longer list of civil defence measures that will be observed in 244 districts across India, including that in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chandigarh. These districts have been designated as civil defence districts based on threat perception. The maximum number of such districts (32) are in West Bengal, followed by Rajasthan (28), Assam (20), Punjab (20) and J&K (20).
The mock drills come in the aftermath of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists, last month. They will simulate multiple hostile scenarios — incoming air raids with siren activation and blackout procedures, urban fire emergencies, search and rescue operations, casualty evacuation, temporary hospital setups, and evacuation of civilians to demilitarised zones/bunkers.
Here are the timings, and rules and regulations of the mock drills across different cities in the country:
In New Delhi, the drills will be held for around three hours between 4 pm and 7 pm. They will take place across all 11 districts in the Capital — five locations per district — covering 660 schools and 40 markets.
All authorities concerned — civil defence, police, fire and medical authorities — will be involved in the exercise that will end at night with blackouts and sirens, a report in The Indian Express stated quoting officials.
For schools, however, the exercise, which began at 9 am today is currently underway.
According to a senior official, respective district magistrates (DMs), who are responsible for leading the drills, will procure sirens that can transmit sound over 4-5 km. Moreover, 500 sirens will be installed across the city to augment the effectiveness of air-raid warning systems.
The Delhi Police have, meanwhile, heightened security around tourist areas and marketplaces, especially in Central Delhi and Delhi Cantonment areas. They are also planning to set up a LARD (Long Range Acoustic Device) system at its headquarters near Parliament Street.
In Gurgaon, control rooms have been set up at the Mini Secretariat. A staging area for relief and rescue operations has been created at Tau Devi Lal Stadium. A blackout will also be observed later in the evening, according to an official.
In Faridabad, the drill will take place at district headquarters, sub-divisional offices, police departments, and hospitals and will involve employees from various government and private agencies.
The exercise was held at ten schools and colleges in Ghaziabad at 10 am.
Maharashtra:
Districts in Maharashtra have been divided into three categories: Category I, which includes Mumbai, Palghar, and Raigad, require full implementation of civil defence programs, whilst Category II (Thane, Nashik, Pune) and Category III (Ratnagiri, Sindhuburg, Aurangabad, Bhusawal) require partial implementation in varying degrees.
In Mumbai, the drill will be held in Uran, where the JNPT port is located, and Tarapur, which is the site of a nuclear facility.
Karnataka:
In Karnataka, Bengaluru, Karwar and Raichur are the districts that fall under Category II. A day earlier, speaking to reporters, Prashant Kumar Thakur, who heads the Home Guards, Civil Defence and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), said the drills will be conducted at 4 pm.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has directed all departments to remain alert at all times, emphasising Hyderabad's strategic importance in national defense and its role as a base for defense establishments, news agency PTI reported.
CM Reddy will also personally oversee the mock drill being conducted this evening, PTI report stated.
Kerala:
According to a statement issued by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), the mock drill will begin at 4 pm, when the alert siren will sound 3 times for 30 seconds. It be conducted between 4.02 p, and 4.29 pm in areas where the siren is heard and even in areas where it is not heard.
Tamil Nadu:
The exercise will be conducted at the Madras Atomic Power Station in Tamil Nadu's Kalpakkam as well as the Chennai Port Trust campuses at 4 pm.
As per an official release by the Tamil Nadu government, 'During this drill, activities will be undertaken in these two vital installations to handle an incoming air raid. The conditions will be simulated to check the preparedness of the systems to handle any kind of emergency.'
West Bengal:
Mock drills will be conducted at 31 locations in 23 districts of West Bengal on Wednesday.
In a meeting with the Union Home Secretary, the West Bengal government informed that the state has 62 satellite phones, 95 sirens in Kolkata and 25-30 sirens in other districts, The Indian Express reported.
Security agencies will take part in the drills with no participation of civilians so far, it is learnt.
The Chandigarh administration will conduct a mock drill at two locations in the city this evening, and a rehearsal for blackout from 7.30 pm to 7.40 pm, officials informed The Indian Express on Tuesday. During the blackout, the general public, including the shopkeepers and residents in the city, have been requested to switch off their lights.
The administration has also requested, through the resident welfare associations, that if someone is outside his/her house, then they should park their vehicles to the side and switch off their vehicle lights.
Punjab:
In Punjab, the mock drills will be held at the civil defence towns of Amritsar, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Batala, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Adampur, Ludhiana, Halwara, Patiala, Pathankot, Barnala, Mohali, Faridkot, Kotkapura, Rupnagar, Bhakra Nangal, Sangrur and Abohar.
During the blackout rehearsals, power will be switched off for a stipulated time, and the use of generators or even lighting matches will be prohibited.
The large-scale exercise needs to follow certain rules and regulations that every participant must keep in mind at all times. Each selected town/district will receive an air raid warning through appropriate signals by sounding sirens.
Following the warning, the general public is requested to seek immediate shelter, draw their curtains, stay indoors, turn off electrical and gas supplies, until further instructions follow. All vehicular traffic in a notified area would have to come to a halt and passenger would be expected to take shelter and other precautionary measures.
Restrictions on electricity usage are also an important feature of such mock drill exercises.
A government document released in 2003, 'General Principles of Civil Defence in India', highlights that the anxiety levels of the enemy pilot in the cockpit increases if the area is dark. The essential motive of the lighting restrictions is to ensure that no light is visible 'at a height of 5,000 ft. above ground level under normal conditions.'
The best way to achieve a high degree of protection is to reduce all public lighting to a minimum, the document stated. 'No direct ray from a street lamp shall be emitted except at a downward slope. Light thrown on the ground shall not be greater than that from a 25 watt bulb at a distance of 20 ft. or an ordinary hurricane lantern at a distance of 6 ft.'
Moreover, it also stated, 'no light whether for decoration, advertisement or any other purpose, shall be exhibited on the outside of any building or construction or on any plot of land.'
During the hours of darkness, all stationery motor vehicles will have their side and rear lights on, as per the document, whereas no vehicle shall be seen on the road unless complied with provisions detailed in the document.
Above all, one needs to stay calm and follow instructions of the DMs of the respective areas. Avoid creating panic during hours of darkness, support your loved ones around in successfully participating in the mock drills.
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