Mock drills will be conducted at 31 locations in 23 districts of West Bengal on Wednesday as part of a nationwide civil defence preparedness after the Union Home Ministry issued directions to the states to be ready for “hostile attacks” amid a standoff with Pakistan over the recent terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, officials said.
Twenty-six persons, mostly tourists from across the country, were shot dead at the Baisaran meadows in Pahalgam on April 22.
The Union Home Ministry is focusing on West Bengal since it shares international border with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan and had asked the state administration to select sensitive places where such drills would be held.
In a meeting with the Union Home Secretary, the West Bengal government informed that the state has 62 satellite phones, 95 sirens in Kolkata and 25-30 sirens in other districts.
Security agencies will take part in the drills with no participation of civilians so far, it is learnt.
According to the Central government’s order, “In the civil defence exercise, active participation of the district controller, various district authorities, civil defence wardens/volunteers, home guards (active/reservists volunteers), NCC, NSS, NYKS, college / school students is envisaged. The civil defence exercise is aimed at assessing the operational efficacy and coordination of various civil defence measures.”
According to the order, the primary objectives of these drills are to assess the effectiveness of air-raid warning systems, operationalisation of hotline/radio communication links with the Indian Air Force, to test the functionality of control rooms and shadow control rooms, training of civilians, students, etc on the civil defence aspects, to protect themselves in the event of a “hostile attack”, provision of crash blackout measures, provision for early camouflaging of vital plants/installations, to verify the activation and response of civil defence services, including warden services, firefighting, rescue operations, and depot management.
It also entails evaluation of the preparedness of evacuation plans and their execution.