J&K, Ladakh gear up for mock drill with sound of sirens at 20 places today

Govt offices, schools identified for exercise
*Volunteers, Medical staff, others to be part of rehearsal

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 6: After several years, the UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh geared up for mock drill at 20 places tomorrow including border and sensitive vulnerable areas to aware people and keep them ready for any eventuality in case ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan escalate.

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The emergency preparedness which will begin with sound of sirens, the first perhaps since 1971, will begin at 4 PM tomorrow.
Senior officers of Home Guards/Civil Defence and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) told the Excelsior that mock drill will be conducted at 18 places in Jammu and Kashmir including Doda, Jammu, Kathua, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur, Samba, Akhnoor, Nowshera and Sunderbani in Jammu region; and Anantnag, Budgam, Baramulla, Kupwara, Srinagar, Awantipora and Pulwama in Kashmir valley. Click here to watch video
The mock drill will be held at Leh and Kargil in the UT of Ladakh, they said.
In Jammu, the mock drill is proposed to be held at the Deputy Commissioner’s Office while in rest of the districts, Higher Secondary Schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas etc have been earmarked for the drills in which Civil Defence, Home Guards and SDRF personnel, police and medical teams among others will be involved.
“The blackout drill has been proposed at Navodaya Vidyalaya, Basohli in Kathua district,’’ they said.
Rajouri is the only district where mock drill will be held at three places including Nowshera, Sunderbani and Rajouri. The district Rajouri has vast Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan where cross-LoC firing has become a regular feature during past 12 nights after Pahalgam terror attack.
“The drill is aimed at assessing preparedness to meet with eventuality during air or other raids. It will help people aware about do’s and don’ts during air raid or any other kind of emergency situation,’’ the officials said, adding the volunteers and medical teams are fully prepared for tomorrow’s exercise which is being held on directions of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the wake of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 25 tourists and a local were killed.
An HG/CD/SDRF official said the mock drill will take place at 4 PM on May 7 to enhance civil defence preparedness for emergencies.
“As part of the drill, sirens will be activated at various locations. This is a practice exercise to test our emergency response systems,’’ the official said and urged the public to remain calm and don’t get alarmed.
He said public cooperation is essential in making this safety initiative a success.
In Srinagar drills will be conducted at Divisional Commissioners office, Deputy Commissioners office, Old Secretariat and Abdul Ahad Azad Memorial Degree College Bemina with mock rescue centres at Sainik Bhawan Batmaloo, Food and Civil Supplies Department Shaheed Gunj, Sainik Bhawan Batmaloo and Examination Hall Complex Degree College Bemina with mock associated hospitals Bone and Joints Hospital Barzulla, SMHS Hospital Karan Nagar.
The MHA has asked all States to conduct the drills due to the “new and complex threats” that have emerged amid rising tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.
States across India have been ordered to rope in students, Government and private employees, hospital, railway, and metro staff, and police, paramilitary and defence forces, to be part of the drill.
Though the drills have been part of Home Guards/Civil Defence/SDRF, this is after a long time that the drills are being conducted in entire Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir following rising tensions between India and Pakistan.
PTI adds from New Delhi:- The stage is set for a nationwide mock drill on Wednesday with all States and Union Territories preparing to operationalise air-raid sirens and train people on evacuation protocols and cleaning of bunkers and trenches among other steps in the event of a “hostile attack”.
Sources said the number of volunteers associated with this drill would be around 6 lakh but the final number could be more.
Most vulnerable places include metro cities like Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata and cities that have vital installations like nuclear facilities or are along the border, they said.
“The Civil Defence authorities are going to check the capabilities of all these zones and wherever something is lacking or not working, these will be rectified,” a source said.
This exercise of identifying site spots will continue for next three days.
During the day, a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan was held here to discuss how to conduct the mock exercise with active public participation of people. Top civil and police officials of the country participated in the meeting, official sources said.
Preparations are almost complete for conducting the mega exercise in the states and Union territories, officials said.
The Delhi government issued a list of dos’ and don’ts for the exercise ‘Operation Abhyaas’ at 55 locations across the national capital.
People have been advised to familiarise with the air raid siren sounds (long wails for alerts, short bursts for all-clear), identifying the nearest shelter locations such as basements, underground car parks or designated safe zones, during the drill and keep ready items like toch, emergency kit, water bottles among others.
People will also be required to immediately stop outdoor activities and proceed to the nearest shelter, avoid using phone to keep communication line free for emergencies after sounding of the sirens without ignoring it.
Chandigarh Deputy Commissioner Nishan Kumar Yadav said a blackout rehearsal will be conducted from 7.30 pm to 7.40 pm on Wednesday.
In Jharkhand, the drills will be conducted from 4 pm for activities like warning of danger through siren, blackout, keeping major infrastructure safe and safe evacuation of injured in case of an accident.
Mock drills will be conducted in Bengaluru, Karwar, and Raichur on May 7, given the “new and complex threats” that have emerged amid rising tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.
Uttar Pradesh Police chief Prashant Kumar said even though 19 districts have been identified by the central government for the mock drills, the state government has decided to carry out it in all districts of the state.
“We have received directions from the government of India for civil defence mock drills scheduled to be held on May 7. As many as 19 districts have been identified, out of which one district is in the A category, two are in the C category, and the rest of the districts are in the D category,” he said.
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the mock drills will be carried out at 20 places in the state, including Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Bathinda, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Patiala, Pathankot, Barnala and Mohali.
Home Ministry officials said nearly 300 Civil Defence districts with sensitive installations like nuclear plants, military bases, refineries, and hydroelectric dams will be covered by the mock drills.
Sources said the civil defence districts are different from the normal administrative district, as a geographical area having a cantonment or a refinery or a nuclear plant may be designated as a ‘civil defence district’ depending on the requirement and exigency.
“Such districts are designated by the respective state authorities, and we believe, the mock drills will be carried out in nearly 300 such civil defence districts across the country,” a source said.
According to a home ministry communication, the mock drills also include the operationalisation of hotline and radio-communication links with the Indian Air Force (IAF), testing the functionality of control rooms and shadow control rooms.
“In the current geo-political scenario, new and complex threats/challenges have emerged, hence, it would be prudent that optimum civil defence preparedness in the states/UTs is maintained at all times,” the letter from the Directorate General Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards to the states and Union territories said.
The conduct of the exercise is planned up to the village level, and this exercise aims to assess and enhance the readiness of civil defence mechanisms across all states and Union territories.
This is not for the first time such mobilisation of civil defence is being done. During COVID too, the entire mechanism was used to support the government, sources said.
After Parliament attack and even during Kargil, civil defence force was mobilised to help state machineries, they added.

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