Mock drills on May 7: MHA instructs states to conduct air raid siren tests

Amidst the heightened tension between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday issued an advisory to multiple states for undertaking mock drills on May 7.

The drills, which will include operationalization of air raid warning sirens and blackouts, are being undertaken to prepare the general public in event of a hostile attack.

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As per the reports, the key aspects of the mock drills will include, training of civilians, students, crash blackout measures, provision for early camouflaging of vital installations and updating of the evacuation plan and its rehearsal, and operationalization of Air Raid Warning Sirens.

This comes a day after a 30-minute blackout drill was conducted in the Ferozepur army cantonment by the authorities. Speaking to the media, Gurjant Singh, SHO, Ferozepur Cantt Police Station, stated that the rehearsal was conducted on the guidelines of the Cantonment Board/Station Commander.

“The blackout was from 9 pm to 9:30 pm. As per the orders of the senior officers, lights were fully switched off. If any vehicle was found with its light turned on, it was turned off…Police are fully alert. Deployment has been made at all intersections,” he said.

Earlier, in a statement issued by the Army spokesperson, it was stated that during a security review on 29 April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi granted the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service Chiefs full freedom to select the time, target and method of retribution.

“The perpetrators will not be spared by the Indian forces. The Indian Army is prepared for decisive actions, yet has scrupulously avoided hasty cross-Line-of-Control forays,” the statement read.

The actions, a part of a calibrated national response to the Pahalgam terror attack, are guided by firm political direction and professional military judgement. “As India mourns the loss of 26 innocent lives brutally taken on 22 April at Baisaran, near Pahalgam, the nation has adopted a measured, punitive and strategically coherent course of action rather than an impulsive knee-jerk retaliation,” said the spokesperson.

As part of the Internal Security Consolidation in Jammu & Kashmir, the security forces are conducting intelligence-driven intense counter terrorist operations that have yielded arrests and the seizure of weapons caches linked to the Pahalgam cell.

Temporary movement restrictions have also been implemented at select tourist spots to ensure civilian safety without undermining the vital tourism sector, the release said.