BJP asks its party MPs to participate in mock drill as ordinary citizens, cooperate with local administration

Earlier in the day, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan held a meeting over the mock drills across the nation for effective Civil Defence. Several high-ranking officials, including DG Civil Defence and DG NDRF, attended the meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"We are reviewing preparedness. Loopholes to be rectified have been identified," said a member of the National Disaster Management Authority after the MHA meeting.

In a boost to civil defence preparations amid tensions with Pakistan, the Union Home Ministry has decided to organise Civil Defence Exercise and Rehearsal across 244 categorised districts on May 7.

According to a letter written to Chief Secretaries, the Union Home Ministry said the exercise aims to assess and enhance the readiness of Civil Defence mechanisms across states and Union Territories.

The exercise is planned up to the village level."Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to organise Civil Defence Exercise and Rehearsal across 244 categorised Civil Defence Districts of the country on May 7, 2025," the letter said.

The primary objectives of the mock drill include assessing the effectiveness of air raid warning systems, operationalisation of hotline, radio communication links with IAF, testing functionality of control rooms and shadow rooms, training of civilians including students on civil defence aspects to protect themselves in the event of hostile attack and provision of crash blackout measures.

The objectives also include the provision of early camouflaging of vital installations, to verify the activation and response of Civil Defence Services including warden services, firefighting, rescue operations and depot management, assessing the implementation of crash blackout measures and evaluating the preparedness of evacuation plans and their execution.

The Home Ministry had on May 2 written to Chief Secretaries of all states and UTs about civil defence preparedness in the vulnerable areas and districts.

Twenty-six people were killed in the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22. The government has said that perpetrators will face severe punishment.

(With inputs from agencies)