Vulnerable districts of Hyderabad, Vizag gear up for civil defence drill

Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam (Vizag) figure among the 244 districts where civil defence mock drills will be conducted on Wednesday. A few days ago the Centre had sent a directive to state governments to be prepared for the exercise.

 

Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana and an economic powerhouse along with the coastal city of Vizag are listed under category 2 of the vulnerable districts. While Hyderabad is home to two army cantonments and the Indian Air Force Academy along with a host of central defence and research institutes like DRDO, Vizag serves as the headquarters of Eastern Naval Command. The nationwide mock drill with the Code name ‘Operation Abhyaas’ is planned to take place at 4 pm. 

 

In Hyderabad, the mock drill will be conducted within the Outer Ring Road (ORR) covering the core and periphery of the city. Twelve government departments including police, fire, revenue, municipal, SDRF, industrial and others will participate in the two types of drill— preparedness for an incoming air raid and the aftermath of an air raid.  

 

In the first, at around 4 pm, there will be activation of sirens in the entire city for a duration of two minutes. The general public and volunteers are expected to immediately seek shelter, and turn off utilities like electrical appliances and gas. They are supposed to be indoors until the authorities announce that the danger has passed.

 

The second drill will take place at 4.15 pm at four different locations in Hyderabad, most likely near sensitive installations and government assets. The drill is to deal with the staged impact of an air drill. By 4.20 pm, the police department and other officials will reach the spot and clear the area, cordon it off and transport the injured. Fire and rescue department personnel with start firefighting and trigger search operations.  

 

The Disaster Response Force teams will clear the rubble and the health and medical teams will attend to the injured. Revenue and Municipal officials will attend to the people at safe shelters. The Director General of the Fire, Department of Telangana will supervise the entire drill which will come to an end at 4.30 pm. In Vizag too, the civil defence drill will be on similar lines. 

India