Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi holds meeting ahead of mock drill exercise for effective Civil Defence

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], May 6 (ANI): In view of the planning of the mock drill to be held in Gujarat on Wednesday, Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi held a meeting on Tuesday and the proposed action plan was reviewed.
Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department MK Das, Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue Department Jayanti Ravi, State Police Chief Vikas Sahay, Home Guards and Civil Defence DGP Manoj Agarwal and other high officials were also present at this meeting.
In a boost to civil defence preparations amid tensions with Pakistan, the Union Home Ministry has decided to organise Civil Defence Exercise and Rehearsal across 244 categorised districts on May 7.
According to a letter written to Chief Secretaries, the Union Home Ministry informed that the exercise aims to assess and enhance the readiness of Civil Defence mechanisms across states and Union Territories.
The exercise is planned up to the village level. "Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to organise Civil Defence Exercise and Rehearsal across 244 categorised Civil Defence Districts of the country on May 7, 2025," the letter stated.
The primary objectives of the mock drill include assessing the effectiveness of air raid warning systems, operationalisation of hotline, radio communication links with IAF, testing functionality of control rooms and shadow rooms, training of civilians including students on civil defence aspects to protect themselves in the event of hostile attack and provision of crash blackout measures.
The objectives also include the provision of early camouflaging of vital installations, to verify the activation and response of Civil Defence Services, including warden services, firefighting, rescue operations and depot management, assessing the implementation of crash blackout measures and evaluating the preparedness of evacuation plans and their execution.
The Home Ministry had on May 2 written to Chief Secretaries of all states and UTs about civil defence preparedness in the vulnerable areas and districts.
Tensions have risen between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack in which twenty-six people were killed on April 22. The government has said that perpetrators will face severe punishment. (ANI)