Union Home Secretary to review preparations for civil defence mock drills
The Hindu
Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan to review civil defence preparations amid rising tensions with Pakistan on May 6.
Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan will on Tuesday (May 6, 2025) review the preparations for strengthening civil defence mechanisms that include conducting mock drills on air-raid warning sirens, training civilians to protect themselves in the event of a "hostile attack" and cleaning bunkers and trenches.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked all States to conduct mock drills on Wednesday, given the "new and complex threats" that have emerged amid rising tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.
"The home secretary will review the preparations for civil defence being made across 244 districts. Chief secretaries and heads of civil defence from across the country will participate in the meeting via video conferencing," a source said.
According to a Home Ministry communication, the measures to be taken during the mock drills include the operationalisation of air-raid warning sirens, training civilians on civil-defence aspects to protect themselves in the event of a "hostile attack" and cleaning bunkers and trenches.
From Partition to Pahalgam: A timeline of India-Pakistan conflicts
The other measures are provisions for crash-blackout measures, early camouflaging of vital plants and installations and updating and rehearsing evacuation plans.
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.
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