Markets emptied, air raid sirens sounded: Mock drill underway in Delhi amid India-Pak tensions after Operation Sindoor

The Delhi government — and the rest of the country — conducted mock drills on a day that India launched a series of strikes, under Operation Sindoor, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the early hours of Wednesday.

The drills were held across all 11 districts of the national capital — five locations per district — covering 660 schools and 40 markets between 4 pm and 7 pm.

At Delhi’s upscale Khan Market, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived for the drills at 3.30 pm. Sirens were sounded at 4 pm, and people started running for cover. After the air raid sirens ended, the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) initiated a mock fire drill while the NDRF rescued people from buildings.

A fire drill was also held at Lok Nayak Bhawan.

At Lajpat Nagar, portions of the market were closed, and people were asked to step aside. Police cars and ambulances were repeatedly entering and exiting the cleared stretch.

As the sirens blared at 4 pm, shop owners pulled down their shutters and shoppers took cover.

At the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, doctors and staff were trained to treat ‘dummy’ patients who were being brought into the ‘yellow’ zone for triaging. Doctors were also trained to provide first aid to patients and send them to the respective departments.

At Sahyog Apartments in Mayur Vihar Phase 1, after sirens were sounded, civil defence volunteers, in yellow vests, formed a circle around the central park — which doubled as a field hospital — where volunteers posed as injured in the event of an airstrike.

Mock drill scene from Amity International School, Saket. (Express photo)

People from different corners of the apartment complex gathered at the spot, some chose to watch over from their balconies. A doctor announced, “As you can see, this person has been brought over on a ladder. It is not always possible to find a stretcher on such occasions.”

Seeing the crowd gathered, a police officer said, “Why don’t you also pose as the injured? It’s not like only these five people will be injured in an eventuality! Either follow the drill properly or go home.”

The crowd shuffled among themselves but stayed put. At 4.20 pm, another siren blared. The doctor said, “This signals that you should rush to a safe place soon.”

Drills were also held in Gurgaon. Final instructions about the exercise were given to police, civil defence, National Cadet Corps (NCC), Red Cross and medical teams before they headed to five mock drill sites.

At Ambience Mall in Gurgaon, teams simulated the situation of aircraft dropping bombs. During the drill, an exercise of taking injured people to Narayana Hospital was carried out by the Red Cross while civil defence volunteers helped mall-goers take cover.

Mock drills were also held at Hero Moto Corp, near Hero Honda Chowk. Fire teams simulated rescue operations post mock fire and bomb drop, and medical teams coordinated treatment.

Blackouts at select locations will be held from 6.30 pm to 7 pm, for approximately 10 – 15 minutes. Earlier in the day, the drills were carried out at several schools in the Capital.