Residents urged to follow guidelines on blackout drills

The district administration has asked residents to ensure that all electric lights of their homes are switched off during blackout drills in the future as it is very important for their safety. In a blackout drill held last evening, many households failed to switch off lights. Even the authorities concerned failed to turn off streetlights in the city.

Many private vehicles were seen moving with their headlights on in several parts of the city during the blackout drill. Officials of the administration said majority of the population abided by the guidelines, but a few violations were also observed. The administration has appealed to the public to follow all guidelines during blackout drills in the coming days.

Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said the administration and senior officials of the defence forces were coordinating with each other.

Police Commissioner (CP) Gurpeet Singh Bhullar asked residents to be vigilant of suspicious persons or items in the city. He said residents must share information about such persons or objects with the police.

Bhullar said residents should not touch any suspicious object. Meanwhile, the administration also clarified that there were no orders regarding observing blackout in Ajnala every night. The administration said some social media platforms and web channels were circulating such information which was completely baseless. Officials of the administration said blackout could be announced only by the district magistrate and no such orders had been passed.

Amritsar