Three cities in Karnataka will hold mock defence drills on Wednesday as part of nationwide preparatory exercises to respond to any eventuality, following the central government’s decision to give the Indian armed forces a free hand to engage with Pakistan-backed terrorists who massacred 26 innocent tourists in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir last month.

Tension between the two countries is palpable, and the Army has been given full authority to decide the day, date, scale, and nature of retaliation for the cowardly terrorist strike, following a series of top-level secret meetings held by the government with the chiefs of the three services, intelligence, paramilitary forces, and other security agencies.

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In Karnataka, security mock drills for citizens will be held in Bengaluru, Raichur, and Karwar. Prashant Kumar Thakur, Chief of the Home Guards, Civil Defence, and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), told media persons in Bengaluru that the city was a cosmopolitan hub with a high population, whereas Raichur hosts a thermal power plant and Karwar is home to the Kaiga Nuclear Power Plant. The drills are expected to be completed by 4 p.m., he added.

The mock drills aim to train students and civilians in how to protect themselves in the event of a hostile attack.

Bengaluru was chosen because the city hosts major IT and Biotech industries that contribute significantly to the country’s GDP. Vital installations and institutions like the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Yelahanka Air Force Base, and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are also located in the city.

The Kaiga Atomic Power Station (KAPS), located near the Kali River in Uttara Kannada district’s Karwar, is the country’s third-largest nuclear power plant. The coastal town also houses INS Kadamba, a key naval base.

Raichur Thermal Power Station, the state’s first, is a coal-fired electric power station that accounts for 70 per cent of the total electricity generated in Karnataka.

Civil defence forces, which were trained and prepared during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, have remained inactive since then, with their activities coming to a standstill.

Thakur said the civil defence force was trained and prepared during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, its activities had subsequently come to a halt. Now, following directions from the central government, the civil defence forces will be reactivated, he said.