Latest news with #CivilDefenceDepartment
The Star
29-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
India to conduct mock drills in states bordering Pakistan on May 29
NEW DELHI: India will conduct large-scale mock drills across its northern and western border states on Thursday (May 29), including Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, and Jammu and Kashmir, under the Centre's emergency preparedness initiative — Operation Shield. India will conduct large-scale mock drills across its northern and western border states on Thursday, including Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, and Jammu and Kashmir, under the Centre's emergency preparedness initiative — Operation Shield. In Punjab, however, the drill will be held separately on June 3, according to an official statement. These coordinated drills aim to test the readiness of the administration and civil population in the event of emergencies such as air strikes or bomb attacks. Designed as full-scale simulations, the drills will assess the functionality of control rooms, air raid warning systems, and the efficiency of civil defence services, including warden duties, firefighting, rescue operations, depot management, and evacuation planning. Sirens will be sounded as part of the drill procedures, and emergency preparedness systems will be examined under close monitoring. The Civil Defence Department in Rajasthan has already begun issuing instructions to all districts in the state, with a special focus on those bordering Pakistan. Jodhpur District Collector Gaurav Agarwal confirmed that a mock drill will take place in Jodhpur on Thursday, although the precise timing is yet to be announced. In Gujarat, the mock drills will be held in every district. The government has announced that registrations will be facilitated on the official portal for those wishing to become civil defence volunteers. The drills will simulate air attack scenarios and will be conducted at two to three locations in each district. A blackout will be enforced in the evening as part of the drill, and residents have been urged to actively participate. Haryana will observe a complete blackout at vital points and strategic locations, excluding emergency and essential services. The blackout is scheduled to begin at 8pm and will last till 8.15pm. These developments follow the Ministry of Home Affairs' earlier nationwide drill, Operation Abhyas, held on May 7 — the same day India launched Operation Sindoor, a military offensive in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Operation Sindoor destroyed nine high-value terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, eliminating more than 100 terrorists. Authorities have reiterated that mock drills play a vital role in strengthening the nation's emergency response framework. These simulations help evaluate coordination between various arms of administration and civil defence units during crisis situations. A blackout, an integral part of such exercises, involves switching off all visible lights in a specific area for a designated time. This wartime tactic is used to make it harder for enemy aircraft to detect and target critical infrastructure during air raids, thereby improving overall defence preparedness under the cloak of darkness. - The Statesman/ANN
Express Tribune
13-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Rs500m to be spent on civil defence upgrade
In an effort to enhance emergency preparedness, the Punjab government has approved a Rs500 million modernisation package for the Civil Defence Department, signalling a strategic shift in the province's public safety framework. The decision was finalised during the 27th meeting of the Standing Committee of Cabinet on Law & Order, aligning with broader efforts to reinforce the province's crisis response capabilities amid heightened regional tensions. According to official documents issued by the Finance Department on May 10, a technical supplementary grant will be issued from the Internal Security Fund. Of the total allocation, Rs460 million has been designated for operational equipmentsuch as mine detectors, snake cameras, bomb blankets, electric sirens, and advanced fire extinguisher setswhile Rs40 million will support IT infrastructure upgrades. Punjab Home Secretary Noorul Amin Mengal has launched an ambitious volunteer recruitment campaign, with the goal of registering one million Civil Defence volunteers across the province. The dual strategyupgrading equipment and expanding human resourcesis aimed at building a comprehensive emergency management network capable of responding swiftly and effectively to a wide range of threats.
Business Recorder
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
CM directs Civil Defence, Rescue-1122 to hold mock drills
LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif by taking an important decision has directed to launch mock exercises of Civil Defence and Rescue 1122 in Punjab. The mock drills have been started by fully activating the Civil Defence Department across the province. The Civil Defence exercises are being conducted in small and big cities across the province. The Chief Minister directed the district administration to monitor the civil defense drills. Rescue 1122 has also started conducting mock exercises in different cities across Punjab. Mock drills of Rescue 1122 are underway to cope up with any untoward incident as well as preempt dangers. She directed Civil Defence and Rescue 1122 to remain stand by and alert at all times in order to deal with any emergency situation. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The Star
01-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Children learn emergency drills as Kashmir tensions rise
Workers from Pakistan's Civil Defence Department give first aid training for schoolchildren as tensions rise with India over a deadly attack in disputed Kashmir. - Photo: AFP MUZAFFARABAD, (Pakistan): School playing fields in Pakistan's Kashmir are being transformed into first aid camps for children to learn how to respond if war breaks out with India. Wearing a protective helmet and a fluorescent vest, 13-year-old Konain Bibi listened attentively to her first aid lesson. "With India threatening us, there's a possibility of war, so we'll all have to support each other," she told AFP. Pakistan's government has warned that it has "credible intelligence" that India was planning an imminent military strike. Already frosty relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have plummeted since a deadly assault on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir last week. India blames Pakistan for the gun attack that killed 26 people on Tuesday (April 22), with Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving his military "complete operational freedom", although Islamabad has denied any involvement. Muslim-majority Kashmir, a region of around 15 million people, is claimed in full by both Islamabad and New Delhi but is divided between them. There are more than 6,000 schools, colleges and universities on the Pakistan side of the border -- including 1,195 along the Line of Control (LoC), the heavily militarised de facto border separating the disputed territory. Local authorities launched first aid training this week, teaching students how to jump out of a window, use an inflatable evacuation slide, or carry an injured person. - 'Come straight home' - Pakistan and India have exchanged fire at the border for several nights in a row, breaking a ceasefire agreement. In Muzaffarabad, the largest city in Pakistani Kashmir, training sessions have already taken place in 13 schools, according to emergency workers. "In an emergency, schools are the first to be affected, which is why we are starting evacuation training with schoolchildren," Abdul Basit Moughal, a trainer from Pakistan's Civil Defence directorate, told AFP. The agency will deploy its rescue workers to schools bordering the LoC in the coming days. "We're learning to help our friends and provide first aid in case India attacks us," said 12-year-old Faizan Ahmed as students watched an instructor handle a fire extinguisher. Eleven-year-old Ali Raza added: "We have learned how to dress a wounded person, how to carry someone on a stretcher and how to put out a fire." About 1.5 million people live near the Line of Control on the Pakistani side, where residents were preparing for violence by readying simple, mud-walled underground bunkers reinforced with concrete if they could afford it. In Chakothi village, about three kilometres (two miles) from the Line of Control, there are around 30 bunkers for a community of 60 families overlooked by Indian army check posts atop the surrounding green mountains. "For a week we are living under constant fear," said Iftikhar Ahmad Mir, a 44-year-old shopkeeper in Chakothi. "We are extremely worried about their safety on the way to school because the area was targeted by the Indian army in the past," he said of the village's children. "We make sure they don't roam around after finishing their school and come straight home." - AFP
