Civilian training drills in 244 districts tomorrow

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday directed several states, including those sharing their borders with Pakistan — Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat as well as the Union Territory of J&K — to conduct comprehensive mock drills on May 7 to strengthen civil defence preparedness in the event of a “hostile attack”.

This came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a series of meetings with top defence and intelligence officials, including Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval.

PM Modi’s meeting with the Defence Secretary marked his third high-level engagement with top defence officials within the past few days. Air Chief Marshal AP Singh had met the PM on May 4, a day after Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi briefed him on maritime security. The PM’s meeting with NSA Doval lasted a couple of hours and was attended by several top officials from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The drills announced by the MHA would be conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Defence, sources said.

The exercises were aimed at operationalising air raid warning sirens, training civilians and students in protective civil defence protocols, implementing crash blackout procedures and camouflaging critical infrastructure and installations, they said. Additionally, evacuation plans were to be updated and rehearsed to ensure swift and coordinated responses during emergencies.

The drills were likely to be held over two to three days, the sources added.

Such measures are taken to keep the public and civil defence volunteers on high alert in the eventuality of an impending conflict. Such drills were last conducted during Operation Parakram of 2001-02 and the Kargil conflict of 1999.

The directive comes in the wake of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following the Aprill 22 Pahalgam terror attack.