NEW DELHI: Amid indications of an imminent confrontation with Pakistan, the govt on Monday moved to prepare the country for any contingency, with the home ministry asking all states and Union Territories to conduct civil defence exercises or drills across the country’s 244 categorised civil defence districts on Wednesday.
The purpose of the exercise, which is bound to bring back memories of full-scale wars — with China in 1962 and Pakistan in 1965 and 1971 — is to test and enhance preparedness of the civil defence machinery against any hostile attacks. The 244 civil defence districts include those identified as vulnerable to various threats.
The drills will simulate a warlike scenario, involving operationalisation of air raid warning sirens to test their effectiveness and activation of the hotline or radio communication links with the Indian Air Force. It will test the implementation of blackout measures, besides evaluating the option of early camouflaging of vital plants and installations.
The May 7 exercise — which is bound to bring back memories of full-scale wars, with China in 1962 and with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971 — seeks to test functionality of control rooms and shadow control rooms and verify the activation and response of civil defence services, including warden services, firefighting, rescue operations and depot management.
The communication to conduct civil defence exercises was sent to state chief secretaries and UT administrators by the directorate general, fire services, civil defence and home guards — which comes under the home ministry — on a day of intense deliberations by PM Narendra Modi with the national security adviser, the home secretary and the defence secretary.
No exercise of this scale was undertaken during Operation Vijay launched to successfully evict Pakistani intruders in Kargil in 1999 or, before that, in 2001 when a war with Pakistan had looked imminent after India massed its troops along the border in the aftermath of a terror attack on Parliament.
The primary objective of the security drill will also be training of civilians, students and volunteers in civil defence aspects to protect themselves from hostile situations; and to evaluate the preparedness of evacuation plans and rehearse their execution.
An earlier communication sent to states on May 2 had sought strengthening of civil defence preparedness in “vulnerable areas”, while recalling the prime minister’s address at the ‘chintan shivir’ — attended by all state home ministers — held on Oct 27-28 at Surajkund, Haryana, emphasising the importance of civil defence preparedness in the country, especially in border and coastal areas. It had stressed on all aspects of preparedness as listed above, apart from cleaning of bunkers and trenches in the border areas.
Monday’s communication is a follow up and states that the home ministry, in exercise of powers conferred on the MHA under Section 19 of the Civil Defence Rules, 1968, “has decided to organise civil defence exercise and rehearsal” right down to the village level.
“In the civil defence exercise, active participation of the district controller, various district authorities, civil defence wardens/volunteers, home guards (active/reserve volunteers), National Cadet Corps (NCC), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), National Service Scheme (NSS) and college/school students is envisaged,” the home ministry letter said, adding that the aim of the exercise is to “assess the operational efficacy and operational coordination of various civil defence measures”.
The communication requests the director, civil defence of states and UTs to involve all stakeholders in the May 7 exercise across the 244 categorised civil defence districts and send an action taken report to DG, fire services, civil defence and home guards “at the earliest”.
In a letter sent to state chief secretaries in Jan 2023 following the 2022 ‘chintan shivir’ at Surajkund, then home secretary Ajay Bhalla had underlined the vital role played by civil defence in supporting the armed forces, mobilising the citizens and helping the civil administration in discharge of their responsibilities. “However, new and complex threats/challenges are emerging, which may pose potential distress to civilian lives and livelihood during the hostile attack/internal security situations,” he had said while seeking a review and the civil defence set up in the states/UTs.
The purpose of the exercise, which is bound to bring back memories of full-scale wars — with China in 1962 and Pakistan in 1965 and 1971 — is to test and enhance preparedness of the civil defence machinery against any hostile attacks. The 244 civil defence districts include those identified as vulnerable to various threats.
The drills will simulate a warlike scenario, involving operationalisation of air raid warning sirens to test their effectiveness and activation of the hotline or radio communication links with the Indian Air Force. It will test the implementation of blackout measures, besides evaluating the option of early camouflaging of vital plants and installations.
The May 7 exercise — which is bound to bring back memories of full-scale wars, with China in 1962 and with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971 — seeks to test functionality of control rooms and shadow control rooms and verify the activation and response of civil defence services, including warden services, firefighting, rescue operations and depot management.
The communication to conduct civil defence exercises was sent to state chief secretaries and UT administrators by the directorate general, fire services, civil defence and home guards — which comes under the home ministry — on a day of intense deliberations by PM Narendra Modi with the national security adviser, the home secretary and the defence secretary.
No exercise of this scale was undertaken during Operation Vijay launched to successfully evict Pakistani intruders in Kargil in 1999 or, before that, in 2001 when a war with Pakistan had looked imminent after India massed its troops along the border in the aftermath of a terror attack on Parliament.
The primary objective of the security drill will also be training of civilians, students and volunteers in civil defence aspects to protect themselves from hostile situations; and to evaluate the preparedness of evacuation plans and rehearse their execution.
An earlier communication sent to states on May 2 had sought strengthening of civil defence preparedness in “vulnerable areas”, while recalling the prime minister’s address at the ‘chintan shivir’ — attended by all state home ministers — held on Oct 27-28 at Surajkund, Haryana, emphasising the importance of civil defence preparedness in the country, especially in border and coastal areas. It had stressed on all aspects of preparedness as listed above, apart from cleaning of bunkers and trenches in the border areas.
Monday’s communication is a follow up and states that the home ministry, in exercise of powers conferred on the MHA under Section 19 of the Civil Defence Rules, 1968, “has decided to organise civil defence exercise and rehearsal” right down to the village level.
“In the civil defence exercise, active participation of the district controller, various district authorities, civil defence wardens/volunteers, home guards (active/reserve volunteers), National Cadet Corps (NCC), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), National Service Scheme (NSS) and college/school students is envisaged,” the home ministry letter said, adding that the aim of the exercise is to “assess the operational efficacy and operational coordination of various civil defence measures”.
The communication requests the director, civil defence of states and UTs to involve all stakeholders in the May 7 exercise across the 244 categorised civil defence districts and send an action taken report to DG, fire services, civil defence and home guards “at the earliest”.
In a letter sent to state chief secretaries in Jan 2023 following the 2022 ‘chintan shivir’ at Surajkund, then home secretary Ajay Bhalla had underlined the vital role played by civil defence in supporting the armed forces, mobilising the citizens and helping the civil administration in discharge of their responsibilities. “However, new and complex threats/challenges are emerging, which may pose potential distress to civilian lives and livelihood during the hostile attack/internal security situations,” he had said while seeking a review and the civil defence set up in the states/UTs.
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