Civil defence mock drill conducted across all Delhi districts

A civil defence mock drill was conducted across all 13 districts of Delhi on Thursday, simulating a hostile attack scenario with air raid warnings, blackout measures and evacuation exercises in place.

The large-scale exercise, carried out by the Directorate of Civil Defence, began at 8 pm at 17 locations, including hospitals, educational institutions, residential complexes, government offices and public spaces, according to a statement.

Teams undertook mock rescue and evacuation operations, shifted people to designated bunker areas and deployed medical units to handle simulated casualties.

A coordinated air raid warning was issued through a hotline linking the Air Force Station at Arjangarh with civil defence control centres, followed by the sounding of sirens and implementation of a crash blackout across selected areas.

During the blackout phase, lights were switched off to simulate wartime conditions and test adherence to blackout protocols. Vulnerable sites and key installations were identified and assessed for risk mitigation measures such as camouflage, the statement said.

At Rainbow Children’s Hospital in Malviya Nagar, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Jitendra Kumar said teams responded promptly to simulated alerts.

“We received alerts and moved to the staging area before deploying teams for the operation. Multiple units, including disaster response teams and medical staff, carried out coordinated action,” he said.

A police official involved in the exercise said a separate mock drill was conducted in the morning in a basement identified as a bunker.

“We practised how to move people to safe locations and how medical teams would respond if there were casualties. Multiple agencies, including civil defence, national cadet corps, civic bodies and disaster management teams participated,” the official said.

The exercise involved active functioning of regional civil defence control centres, civil defence control rooms, emergency operations centres of the revenue department and coordination centres of various emergency support functionaries, the statement said.

Multiple agencies — including the Delhi Police, the Delhi Fire Services, civil defence volunteers, the health department, the National Disaster Response Force, the National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme volunteers, the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and Home Guards — demonstrated conducting search and rescue operations, casualty evacuation and setting up of temporary medical aid facilities.

Thousands of civil defence volunteers and emergency responders took part in the drill, while public participation and awareness were also integral to the exercise, it said.

According to the statement, there was strong coordination among participating agencies, quick mobilisation of personnel and effective activation of emergency protocols and control rooms, while public response during the exercise was encouraging.

The drill was conducted at several prominent locations across the city, including the Taj Palace Hotel, Delhi Cantonment General Hospital, Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur College of Nursing and Omaxe Mall in Chandni Chowk.

Such exercises are conducted periodically to enhance preparedness for emergencies arising from hostile threats and to strengthen response systems, the statement said.

District magistrates and civil defence controllers, who supervised the exercise, will submit detailed reports to the civil defence headquarters on April 3 for further assessment, which will subsequently be shared with the Ministry of Home Affairs, it added.

The Directorate of Civil Defence and the revenue department reiterated their commitment to public safety and preparedness, and appealed to citizens to remain aware of advisories, cooperate during such drills and follow safety protocols, including blackout measures, during emergencies, it said.