New Delhi conducts disaster preparedness drills

The city of New Delhi has conducted mock drills at 55 locations across its 11 districts as part of its ‘Operation Abhyaas’ emergency response exercise. The exercise aims to test the city’s disaster preparedness and response capabilities in crises. As a consequence of the ongoing Indo-Pak tensions, local sources have reported that simulations of multiple hostile scenarios, including air strikes, multiple fire emergencies, and search and rescue operations, were conducted as part of the nationwide civil defence mock drill. These mock drills were conducted in key locations, including schools, government offices, bustling markets, shopping malls, airports, and other critical areas, with the involvement of emergency response teams and rescue vehicles. The exercise involved volunteers from the Delhi Civil Defence Department (DCD), personnel from the Electricity Department, National Cadet Corps (NCC), traffic police and local police, dog teams, and teams from the Delhi Jal Board. The mock drill was accompanied by awareness-raising initiatives among the public on disaster preparedness. Before this incident, several schools in Delhi had conducted analogous exercises after providing adequate notice to students and staff.