Blackout simulations, evacuation protocols: U.P. conducts mock drills

Checking war preparedness, Uttar Pradesh carried out mock drills in every district, airports, railway stations, oil and gas refineries on Wednesday, making citizens aware of how to respond during aerial attacks and other wartime contingencies, senior home department and civil defence officials said.

The exercise also included blackout simulations at specific places in the state, along with protocols for the evacuation and treatment of the injured.

The drills were carried out in coordination with civil defence, fire services, state disaster response force, railways and local district administration.

The Uttar Pradesh government extended the exercise to all 75 districts after the Union government’s directives to conduct mandatory mock drills at 19 specific districts and places in the state. The initial list included Lucknow, Agra, Prayagraj, Bareilly, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Jhansi, Kanpur, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar and four specific locations -- Narora (Bulandshahr), Bakshi Ka Talab (Lucknow), Saraswa (Saharanpur) and Mughal Sarai (Chandauli).

The authorities concerned said the drills were necessary to assess emergency medical infrastructure, response times, and coordination between various agencies in the event of mass casualties or large-scale evacuations. They said the drills also served as a refresher in civil defence protocols and aimed to foster greater public awareness and resilience in times of national crisis.

The civil defence mock drill was a preparedness exercise which seeks to identify strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in the current civil defence preparedness during emergencies like war, missile attacks, or aerial strikes, a senior civil defence official said.

The aim is to test the preparedness and efficiency of current civil defence mechanisms at the state and local levels.

He explained that the exercise aimed to evaluate the response capabilities of various agencies, their coordination, and the public’s preparedness to handle different types of emergencies. He said the drills simulated scenarios like coordinated terrorist attacks, chemical incidents, and evacuation procedures.

As per the Ministry of Home Affairs, the mock drills aim to train civilians, students, and others in civil defence techniques for protection during a hostile attack. Checking the readiness of control rooms and shadow control centers and evaluating the performance of air raid warning systems is among the objectives.