Prepared for civil defence exercise at multiple levels: Misra
Misra said that Haryana is fully prepared to conduct the civil defence exercise and rehearsal at multiple levels, extending down to villages
In line with the Union Government’s directive for a nationwide civil defence mock drill scheduled for May 7, Haryana government has made elaborate preparations to ensure the success of the exercise across districts. A high-level virtual meeting was convened today by Union home secretary to review the final arrangements, which was attended by senior officials including Haryana’s chief secretary Anurag Rastogi, home department additional chief secretary Sumita Misra and civil defence and home guards director general Des Raj Singh.
Misra said that Haryana is fully prepared to conduct the civil defence exercise and rehearsal at multiple levels, extending down to villages, in coordination with district and local authorities. She informed that comprehensive instructions are being issued to all deputy commissioners, who are ex-officio controllers of civil defence in their districts, to conduct the mock drill in a rigorous and coordinated manner.
She further said that at present as per MHA guidelines, Haryana has 10 districts designated as civil defence towns under category–II namely Ambala, Faridabad, Gurugram, Hissar, Panchkula, Panipat, Rohtak, Sirsa, Sonepat and Yamunanagar and Jhajjar in category-III.
She said Haryana has activated a comprehensive range of civil defence mechanisms including the operational readiness of civil defence sirens, air raid warning systems in urban and sensitive areas, hotlines control room and radio communication links with the Indian Air Force and other key defence agencies. Crash blackout protocols will be implemented, and evacuation drills and emergency response plans are being executed across various zones in designated areas as per the exercise guidelines. Training and sensitisation programmes are being conducted for civilians, students, and key personnel on safety measures. The response capabilities of civil defence services including wardens, fire and rescue teams, depot staff, and medical responders are also being tested.
The state disaster management department has also been directed to activate the state-level and district-level control rooms for early warning, real time information sharing and coordination.