Rehan Qayoom Mir
Srinagar, May 31: As a part of the nationwide Civil Defence Exercise ‘Operation Shield’, mock drills were conducted in key districts of Jammu and Kashmir regions on Saturday.
An official, while sharing details said, “Today’s mock drill in J&K, part of ‘Operation Shield,’ tested the emergency response to potential attacks. It involved air raid sirens, blackouts, evacuation drills, and coordination among civil administration, police, SDRF, and fire services.”
The drill, he said, was simultaneously carried out in Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag, and Kulgam districts in Kashmir and in the Jammu division the exercises were carried out in Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, and Kathua.
The exercise, part of a larger Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) initiative under the Directorate General of Fire Services, Civil Defence & Home Guards (DGFS-CDHG) involved simulated drone strikes, air raids, mass casualty evacuations, and a blackout drill at 8 PM to test coordination between civil, police, military, and emergency medical agencies.
In Srinagar city, the exercise was organized at the Amar Niwas Complex, the office of the Deputy Commissioner, where a mock evacuation, rescue operation, and emergency coordination setup were conducted to mirror real-time response to aerial threats.
Multiple departments, including the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Civil Defence, SDRF, health services, and local youth groups participated actively in the drill.
Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr Bilal Mohi-ud-din while talking to reporters, said the aim of the drill was to prepare both the public and administration for unforeseen emergencies. “Such exercises are vital to check our preparedness levels and correct any gaps before real threats emerge,” he said.
Moreover, local residents were alerted in advance and advised not to panic as sirens, emergency announcements, and power blackouts were part of the simulation.
In Anantnag and Kulgam, Civil Defence and police personnel practiced urban evacuation, medical triaging, and communications drills. In Baramulla, the scenario involved managing drone attack aftermaths with medical teams responding to mock casualties and coordinating air and ground rescue.
In the Jammu division, the drills saw similar intensity. Poonch and Rajouri, close to the Line of Control (LoC), simulated enemy drone attacks on border installations, followed by coordinated civil-military evacuation of civilians to designated relief shelters.
In Doda and Kathua, medical teams conducted mock emergency surgeries and created triage zones to demonstrate preparedness for mass casualty events. Also, the emergency alarms were tested across all districts to familiarize the public with possible future alerts.
Earlier, as already reported, the Operation Shield was rolled out in frontier states. On May 28, the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued a circular announcing that the second phase of Operation Shield would be conducted on May 31, today across UTs of J&K, Chandigarh and in western frontier states including Gujarat and Haryana.
The exercise aimed to simulate ‘hostile military threats such as missile attacks, air raids and drone strikes’ and test the response of district administrations, youth forces, medical staff, and Civil Defence wardens.
The MHA circular, revealed that one major scenario would involve an enemy drone attack on a military installation, prompting civil evacuation, medical treatment, and rapid response coordination with the Indian Air Force.
The drills also tested the ability to mobilize 30 units of blood for hypothetical mass injuries, besides communications checks between Civil Defence control rooms and military command centers.
Notably, the Civil Defence drills follow heightened national security concerns after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which killed 26 civilians, mostly tourists. In response, the Government of India announced a series of preparedness measures, including Operation Shield, to assess the civil administration’s ability to support defence forces during large-scale emergencies. (KNO)
