Jalandhar observes blackout drill to deal with emergencies

Having recently experienced the sounds of neutralising of missiles and spotting of Pak-borne drones across the skies from the rooftops, the half an hour blackout drill held from 9:30 pm to 10 pm in Jalandhar on Saturday night once again made people stay prepared for any eventuality.

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As a part of the exercise called Operation Shield, once again the sirens blared at 9:30 pm and the PSPCL turned off all lights. The streetlights went off. The markets had got closed at 9 pm. The movement of vehicles on roads remained minimal. Majority of the people did not use their generators or inverters to switch on any light and adhered to the directions of the district administration.

While the blackout drills were held late in the evening, mock drills were held in day time at Jalandhar Cantonment and peripheral towns, including Nawanshahr. In Jalandhar Cantonment at 6 pm, a mock drill was conducted near Jawahar Park. Prior to the drill, a briefing was given by Brig Sunil on behalf of the Army, and by Balbir Raj Singh, Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, Jalandhar, from the district administration side, on how to deal with emergency situations.

Present on the occasion were District Revenue Officer Navdeep Singh, along with officials from the Army, Civil Defence, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Punjab Home Guards, fire brigade, health department, and other essential service departments. Following the briefing, all these departments immediately sprang into action and began their operations.

A siren warning of an air raid threat was sounded, and the drill began. In the first phase, it was demonstrated that those who lay on the ground or moved to safe locations survived, whereas those who did not follow safety protocols were impacted. The drill simulated transporting the affected individuals to hospitals via ambulance and simultaneously extinguishing fire incidents with the help of the fire brigade.

Deputy Commissioner Dr Himanshu Aggarwal stated that during such mock drills, not only are the arrangements for protecting life and property reviewed, but the availability and provision of essential services such as food supplies, healthcare and other necessities are also practiced. He emphasised the importance of public awareness about safety measures during emergencies so that precautions can be taken to ensure self-protection.

Secretary Balbir Raj Singh informed that in case an air raid warning siren is heard, the first step should be to take shelter in a building. If no building is nearby, take cover under a tree. Even inside buildings, do not stand near windows; instead, seek shelter in a corner. If it is night time, turn off all lights.

At Nawanshahr, the

district administration on Saturday evening carried out a mock drill at local administrative complex in view of civil defence preparedness to tackle any sort of exigency. Deputy Commissioner Ankurjeet Singh said

that the drill was conducted under the supervision of Additional Deputy Commissioner Rajiv

Verma. A blackout was also observed from 8 to 8:15 pm.

Coordinated drill in Kapurthala, Phagwara

A coordinated blackout drill was conducted in Kapurthala and Phagwara on Saturday night under the ‘Operation Shield’ directive. The exercise, aimed at enhancing preparedness against potential emergency scenarios, took place from 9:30 pm to 10 pm.

As part of the drill, power supply was cut slightly ahead of schedule, around 9:25 pm, followed by the sounding of warning sirens across both towns. In response, police teams were deployed across various localities to ensure compliance, urging residents and motorists to turn off lights and participate in the blackout. SDM, Phagwara, Jashanjit Singh and Traffic Inspector Aman Kumar Daveshwar were seen monitoring the situation.