Ferozepur: A complete blackout rehearsal was conducted on Sunday at the Indian Army’s cantonment in Punjab’s Ferozepur for half an hour amid the prevailing war threats and escalated tension between India and Pakistan, reports claimed.
As part of the drill, total darkness was maintained by switching off all visible lights from 9 pm for 30 minutes, the India Today reported. Authorities had reportedly asked residents that no inverter or generator lights should be visible outside their homes during this period. The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) disconnected the power supply for 30 minutes and hooters went off, continuing throughout the drill while police parties remained alert on roads, reported Hindustan Times.
A letter from the cantonment authorities was sent to the Deputy Commissioner in Ferozepur. It had mentioned that the rehearsal was intended to ensure preparedness and effectiveness in implementing blackout procedures amid war threats in the country, following the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, mostly of tourists, last month.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following a high-level defence meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and the three service chiefs, had granted the armed forces full operational freedom to respond to the terror attack.
India has accused Pakistan of encouraging cross-border terrorism. In response to previous terror attacks by Pakistan-based militant groups, India had carried out military strikes on Pakistani soil in 2019 by launching an airstrike on a terrorist camp in Balakot. This was carried out following a suicide bombing in Pulwama that killed 40 Indian soldiers.
In 2016, Indian special forces conducted a surgical strike across the Line of Control in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), targeting terror launch pads. This was in retaliation for the killing of 19 Indian soldiers in a militant attack on an Army camp near Uri in Jammu and Kashmir.
