Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following Operation Sindoor launched in retaliation to Pahalgam terror attack, mock drill exercises are underway in several parts of the country today.
These drills, codenamed ‘Operation Abhyas’ will be part of a longer list of civil defence measures that will be observed in 244 districts across India, including that in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chandigarh. These districts have been designated as civil defence districts based on threat perception. The maximum number of such districts (32) are in West Bengal, followed by Rajasthan (28), Assam (20), Punjab (20) and J&K (20).
The mock drills will simulate multiple hostile scenarios — incoming air raids with siren activation and blackout procedures, urban fire emergencies, search and rescue operations, casualty evacuation, temporary hospital setups, and evacuation of civilians to demilitarised zones/bunkers.
The large-scale exercise needs to follow certain rules and regulations that every participant must keep in mind at all times. Each selected town/district will receive an air raid warning through appropriate signals by sounding sirens. Following the warning, the general public is requested to seek immediate shelter, draw their curtains, stay indoors, turn off electrical and gas supplies, until further instructions follow. All vehicular traffic in a notified area would have to come to a halt and passenger would be expected to take shelter and other precautionary measures.
