In view of the civil defence mock drill ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Chandigarh administration will conduct a mock drill at two locations in the city on Wednesday evening, and a rehearsal for blackout from 7.30 pm to 7.40 pm, officials said on Tuesday. Nishant Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner, Chandigarh, said that the mock drill aimed to raise awareness among civil defence volunteers, including those from the NSS and the NCC. At 4 pm, mock drills will be conducted at two locations, which would be for dealing with any disaster situation, Yadav added. Amid spiralling tensions along the Line of Control over a possible military response by India to the Pahalgam terror attack, the Centre had directed northern and western states and Union Territories to test and strengthen their civil defence mechanisms on Wednesday. In Chandigarh, the rehearsal of the blackout will be held from 7.30 pm to 7.40 pm, to check the preparedness of government institutions. During the blackout, the general public, including the shopkeepers and residents in the city, have been requested to switch off their lights. A request has also been made by the administration through the resident welfare associations. If someone is outside his/her house, then they should park their vehicles to the side and switch off their vehicle lights, Yadav said. Similar mock drills will be carried out in states across the country, including Punjab, where drills will be held at the civil defence towns of Amritsar, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Batala, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Adampur, Ludhiana, Halwara, Patiala, Pathankot, Barnala, Mohali, Faridkot, Kotkapura, Rupnagar, Bhakra Nangal, Sangrur and Abohar. According to MHA’s guidelines, the drills will include activation of air raid warning sirens, training of civilians, students and others in civil defence procedures to protect themselves in the event of a hostile attack, implementation of crash blackout measures, early camouflaging of vital plants and installations, updating and rehearsing of evacuation plans, etc.
