Bhubaneswar: Air raid siren echoed across 12 places of Odisha, including capital city Bhubaneswar, on Wednesday as a nationwide civil defence mock drill was initiated by the Ministry of Home Affairs amid heightened tension with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people.
The exercise, the first of its kind since the 1971 India-Pakistan war, involved multiple sirens blaring at 4 pm in Bhubaneswar and 11 other places, simulating wartime scenarios like air raids, urban fires, casualty evacuations, and temporary hospital setups.
During the mock drill, fire engines and PCR vans were stationed at multiple locations while there was a heavy deployment of security personnel and civil defence volunteers.
In Bhubaneswar, the mock drill was conducted from Rajmahal Square to Sishu Bhawan Square and Bapujinagar area. Alarm sirens were played in the busy market area and people were asked to run as part of the evacuation drill that was carried out.
Senior officials, including DIG Umashankar Dash, DM Khurda Collector, Bhubaneswar DCP Jagamohan Meena and GM Purandar Nanda monitored the mock drill conducted in the state capital from Integrated Command Control Room.
During which the concerned security personnel created awareness among the general public by displaying their skill to carry out rescue operations.
Firefighters used different of equipment during the exercise which concluded with another siren at 4.30 pm.
A large number of people of different walks of lives had gathered on the spot to learn from the mock drill.
In different districts, mock drills were carried out in the presence of civil defence volunteers, personnel and NCC cadets.
With the start of rescue efforts, volunteers were told to rescue the injured while people were asked to remain calm and help those who got injured.
Notably, the civil defence mock drills were held in Bhubaneswar, Khurda, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Dhenkanal, Puri, Koraput, Sundargarh, and Angul as per the direction of the Home Ministry.
