Chennai gears up for second round of civil defence drills simulating war-like scenarios
The exercise, scheduled for 4 PM today, is being held under the guidance of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the Civil Defence Rules, 1968.
CHENNAI: A war-like scenario will be simulated during the second consecutive round of civil defence mock drills at two key locations in Chennai, the Manali Petrochemical Company and the Kamarajar Port, as part of a nationwide emergency preparedness exercise amid rising tensions with Pakistan.
The exercise, scheduled for 4 PM today, is being held under the guidance of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the Civil Defence Rules, 1968.
Meanwhile, authorities have urged the public not to panic, emphasising that the mock drill is only a preparedness measure. All other public and commercial activities will function as normal during the exercise, said a Daily Thanthi report.
On May 7, the Ministry of Home Affairs conducted similar war-time security drills at 244 locations across India, including Kalpakkam Atomic Station and the Chennai Port Trust in the city. This marks the first such large-scale exercise in 54 years, with the previous one conducted in 1971.
The mock drills involved power outages, internet disruptions, transport diversions, and simulated air-raid sirens. In some cases, public access to certain areas was temporarily restricted to mimic emergency conditions.
The full-scale civil mock defence drill exercises on Wednesday followed the early morning tri-services 'Operation Sindoor', where India carried out 24 precision missile strikes on nine terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). The nine terror camps were strongholds of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), officials said. The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in which 26 civilians were killed.
