Blackout guidelines witness partial impact across Patiala
The blackout operation drew a mixed response in the city. While the elderly living in residential areas complied by the guidelines of the district administration, the youngsters remained unfazed and were seen using their mobile while walking on Bhupindra Road.
Life appeared normal near Thapar University as people – predominantly young boys and girls- were seen frequenting on the road.
Those driving the cars near Leela Bhawan appeared oblivious about the blackout guidelines only to be told by the police to park their vehicles on the side and switch off the headlights. Partial observation was witnessed in the busy markets power supply automatically turned to inverters installed in the shops.
As a precautionary measure the power outage was imposed across the city from 8.30 am till 9.30 pm. It was primarily done soto ensure that all markets are closed before 9 pm.
While blackout was observed for 10 minutes across the district, except for Urban Estate Phase-3 and 4 it was observed for 30 minutes- from 9 pm to 9.30 pm. Due to the power outage, people in multi-story buildings and malls were advised to avoid using escalators. However, there has been no report of anyone being stuck in the escalator.
Earlier during the day, a civil defence mock drill was conducted at 4 pm today to assess the coordination between rescue agencies and the civil administration in Patiala.
During the half-hour exercise at the Patiala railway station, overseen by Deputy Commissioner Dr Preeti Yadav, rescue operations were practiced by simulating emergency situations in a public area, including handling casualties and coordinating the administrative machinery due to simulated air raids, fires, and gas leaks by sounding sirens.
Yadav informed that this exercise was pre-planned in view of the instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Directorate General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards, so there is no need to be afraid.
She explained that the purpose of this mock drill is to control emergency situations and safely simulate such situations so that both citizens and the administration are better prepared to deal effectively with a real crisis. Therefore, no rumors should be spread or believed, whether on social media or otherwise.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Isha Singal, Commanding Officer of NCC 10 Punjab Colonel Amitesh Verma, SDM Avikesh Gupta, DSP Neha Agarwal, District Revenue Officer Navdeep Singh, Secretary of District Red Cross Society Pritpal Singh Sidhu, Second-in-Command of ITBP Narendra, Deputy Commander Brijesh, District Fire Officer Rajinder Kaushal, District Education Officer Sanjeev Kumar, and Kaka Ram Verma were also present on this occasion.
Chandigarh