A day after the Ministry of Home Affairs announced nationwide civil defence mock drills, a list of 244 districts where the exercise will be conducted was released on Tuesday.

As the security concern rises amidst the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, the MHA has devised the mock drill to prepare the civilians and government systems to respond during emergencies including war, missile attacks, or aerial strikes.

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In the scheduled drill, which is being undertaken under Civil Defence Rules, 1968, apart from the local administration and security authorities, the Civil Defence Wardens, Home Guards, National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), have been roped in to play an active role in the conduct of the mock drill.

As per the reports, the 259 towns as part of the shortlisted districts are divided into three categories. The selection is based on the tactical and strategic vulnerability of these towns from the enemy’s attack points of view.

The state-wise breakup of the districts includes;

Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Port Blair), Andhra Pradesh (Vishakhapatnam), Arunachal Pradesh (Alog, Itanagar, Tawang, Hayuling and Bomdila), Assam (Bongaigaon, Dibrugarh, Dubri, Goalpara, Jorhat, Sibsagar, Tinsukia, Tezpur, Digboi, Diliajan,Guwahati (Dispur), Rangia, Namrup, Nazira, Darrang, Golaghat, Karbi-anglong, Kokrajhar, North-Lakshimpur, and Numaligarh),

Bihar (Barauni, Katihar, Patna, Purnea and Begusarai), Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh (Durg (Bhilai)), Dadar Nagar Haveli: Dadra (Silvasa), Daman and Diu: Daman, Delhi (Including New Delhi and Delhi Cantt), Goa (North Goa (Panaji), South Goa), Gujarat (Surat, Vadodara, Kakrapur, Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Bhuj, Gandhinagar, Bhavnagar, Kandla, Nalia, Ankleshwar, Okha, Vadiner, Bharuch, Dange, Kutch, Mehsana, Narmada, and Navsari).

Haryana ( Ambala, Faridabad, Gurugram, Hissar, Panchkula, Panipat, Rohta, Sirsa, Sonipat and Yamunanagar), Himachal Pradesh (Shimla), Jammu and Kashmir (Anantnag, Badgam, Baramula, Doda, Jammu, Kathua, Poonch, Rajauri, Srinagar, Udhampur, Samba, Akhnoor, Uri, Naushera, Sunderbani, Awantipora), Jharkhand (Bokaro, Gomio, Godda, Jamshedpur, Ranchi and Sahebganj), Ladakh (Leh and Kargil), Karnataka (Bengaluru Urban), Malleshwara and Raichur), Kerala (Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram).

Lakshadweep (Lakshadweep (Kavarati). Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur and Katni), Maharashtra (Mumbai, Uran, Tarapur, Thne, Pune, Nashik, Roha-Nagothane, Monmad, Sinner, Thal Vayshot, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Aurangabad, Bhusaval, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg), Manipur (Imphal, Churachandpur, Ukhrul, Moreh, and Ningthou-Khong), Meghalaya (East Khasi Hill (Shillong), Jaintia Hill (Jawai), and West Garo Hill (Tura)), Mizoram (Aizawl), Nagaland (Dimapur, Kohima, Mokokchung, Mon, Phek, Tuensang, Wokha, Zunhenoto, Kiphri, Perren), Odisha (Talcher, Balasore, Koraput, Bhubaneswar, Gopalpur, Hirakund, Paradip, and Rourkela), Puducherry.

Punjab (Amritsar, Bhatinda, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Pathankot, Barnala, Adhampur. Bhakra-Nangal, Halwsara, Kothpapur, Batala, Mohali, Abohar, Faridpur, Ropar, and Sangrur), Rajasthan (Kota, Rawat- Bhata, Ajmer, Alwar, Barmer, Bharatpur, Bikaner, Bundi, Ganganagar, Phulera (Jaipur), Nagaur (Merta Road), Jalore, Bewar (Ajmer), Hanumangarh, Jaipur, Lalgarh (Ganganagar), Jaisalmer, Sawai Madhopur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Sikar, Nal, Suratgarh, Abu Road, Nasirabad (Ajmer), and Bhivari), Sikkim (Gangtok).

Tamil Nadu (Chennai), Telangana (Hyderabad), Tripura (Agartala), Uttar Pradesh (Agra, Prayagraj, Bareilly, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Bakshi-Ka-Talab, Mughalsarai, Sarsawa, Bagpat, and Muzaffarnagar), Uttarakhand (Dehradun), West Bengal (Coochbehar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Malda, Siliguri, Greater Kolkata, Durgapur, Haldia, Hasimara, Kharagpur, Burpur-Asansol, Farakka-Khejuriaghat, Chittaranjan, Balurghat, Alipurwar, Raignaj, Islampur, Dinhata, Makhlili ganj, Mathabhanga, kalimpong, Jaldhaka, Kurseong, Kolkghat, Bardhaman, Birbhum, East Medinipur, West Medinipur, Howrah, Hoogly and Murshidabad).

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.

Earlier, a 30-minute blackout drill was conducted in the Ferozepur army cantonment by the authorities.

The mock drills which date back to the cold-war era were exercised to recreate real-life scenarios pertaining to an armed attack. The upcoming mock drill on May 7, may include temporary blackouts, suspension of mobile signals, or traffic signals, and diversion of traffic. Further, evacuation drills or public announcements may be undertaken along with police and paramilitary forces playing out a war-like emergency.

It was also reported that post the drill, the authorities are required to prepare and present an “Action Taken Report” documenting the event, response gaps, and recommendations.