Amid escalating tensions with Pakistan, the Centre on Monday announced that it will conduct civil defence mock drills on May 7. Ahead of the Civil Defence Exercise and rehearsal across 244 districts on Wednesday, the Union Home Secretary, Govind Mohan, has called a meeting at 10.45 am today. A comprehensive drill at this scale is being conducted in the country for the first time since 1971, when India defeated Pakistan, which resulted in the formation of Bangladesh.
The civil defence exercise is being planned at the village level. Chief Secretaries and civil defence heads from all over the country will attend this meeting via video conferencing. In a letter written on May 5, the MHA laid out directives to several states to conduct mock drills for effective civil defence. The letter said, "Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to organise Civil Defence Exercise and Rehearsal across 244 categorised Civil Defence Districts of the country on May 7, 2025." In light of a predictable, looming war with Pakistan, the Union Home Ministry has ordered the states to hold comprehensive mock drills tomorrow.
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Primary Measures Of The Mock Drill
- Testing the effectiveness of air raid sirens
- Operationalisation of hotline/radio communication links with IAF
- Testing functionality of control as well as shadow rooms
- Training Civilians, including students, on civil defence aspects
- Provision of crash blackout protocols
- Provision for early camouflaging of vital plants/installations, etc.
Earlier, on May 2, the Union Home Ministry wrote to Chief Secretaries of all states and UTs to brace for civil defence preparedness across the vulnerable areas and districts. A total of 295 vulnerable towns and districts have been identified as vulnerable by the MHA. Tensions have escalated with Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
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