New Delhi, May 5: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked several states to conduct mock drills on May 7 amid rising tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, government sources said on Monday.
The measures to be taken during the drill include operationalisation of air raid warning sirens and training of civilians on civil defence aspects to protect themselves in the event of a “hostile attack”, they said.
The timing of the Centre’s order is crucial. The last such drill was conducted in 1971, the year in which India and Pakistan went to war on two fronts.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked states to take the following measures:
Operationalisation of Air Raid Warning SirensTraining 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/installationsUpdation of the evacuation plan and its rehearsal.
After the Pahalgam attack, in which 26 civilians were shot down by terrorists with links to Pakistan, there seems to be no sign of a de-escalation along the border.
For 11 consecutive nights, Pakistan has fired on Indian posts along the Line of Control. India has strongly responded to Islamabad’s repeated cross-border firing.
In Punjab’s Ferozepur, lights were switched off in the cantonment area from 9 to 9:30 pm yesterday. The officer asked the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) to cut electricity at the exercise’s scheduled time.
“You are requested to ensure adequate security arrangements during this period, given the total blackout,” the Cantonment Board officer said in a letter.
“This rehearsal aims to ensure preparedness and effectiveness in implementing blackout procedures during prevailing war threats,” the officer said.
India has vowed to take vengeance for the worst-ever attack in Jammu and Kashmir since Pulwama in 2019. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh amid speculation over how New Delhi would respond to the attack. The meeting lasted for more than half an hour. This meeting comes a day after the Prime Minister met Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh. The Prime Minister has by now met the chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
The Prime Minister has warned that those involved in carrying out and plotting the terror attack will get a punishment they cannot imagine, a sentiment echoed by leaders across the political spectrum.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, yesterday, assured the nation that “what you desire will certainly happen”, dropping a broad hint about India’s next move.
India, so far, has taken several diplomatic measures against Pakistan, including, suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, a move that was not witnessed even during the 1965, 1971 wars and the 1999 Kargil conflict. The diplomatic staff of Pakistan’s missions in India has been downsized.