Following instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Odisha schedules Statewide mock drills on May 7 at 12 major location as part of a nationwide civil defense readiness exercise.
These mock drills are part of a broader initiative set by the Union Home Ministry to improve emergency response skills in light of increasing geopolitical risks.
Important sites in Odisha that are likely to take part include the Integrated Test Range (ITR) located in Chandipur, Abdul Kalam Island off the Dhamra coast, and the MiG manufacturing plant of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Sunabeda.
Along with the three main sites, the remaining nine important places where these drills will take place are Talcher, Bhubaneswar, Hirakud, Paradip, Rourkela, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, and Balasore.
The preparations come as India considers its response to a recent attack that resulted in the deaths of 28 civilians, including 25 tourists, in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22.
Officials have stated that the exercise will involve activating air raid warning sirens, providing civil defense training for civilians and students, implementing crash blackout procedures, camouflaging essential infrastructure, and updating evacuation plans, followed by practice runs.
Other aspects of the drill will include cleaning and maintaining bunkers and trenches, as well as testing communication systems with the Indian Air Force, including hotlines and radios. The control rooms and their backup facilities will be tested to ensure they are working properly.
The Home Secretary will check how well civil defence systems are prepared in 244 districts across the country. Chief secretaries and civil defence leaders from every state and union territory will join this review meeting through video conferencing to discuss and assess readiness for the upcoming safety drills.
A letter from the Directorate General of Fire Services, Civil Defence, and Home Guards emphasized that, “Given the current geopolitical situation, new and complex threats have arisen. Therefore, states and union territories must maintain high levels of civil defense readiness at all times.”
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