Mumbai, May 7 (UNI) As part of a nationwide preparedness initiative, civil defence mock drills were held on Wednesday at various locations in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra in the backdrop of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.
The Railways carried out a civil defence mock drill at the historic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) station to enhance emergency preparedness and response capabilities. They inspected the entire station premises including platform's entry and exit gates. Their police dog squad was also involved.
Another mock drill was conducted at Cross Maidan in south Mumbai by the Civil Defence team, which was the largest such exercise.
Civil defence director Prabhat Kumar said that civil defence volunteers had participated in the mock drill and guided people on reducing damage and reaching hospitals. "We want to prepare people for any eventuality.”
More than 10,000 volunteers of civil defence, National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets and Home Guard volunteers had participated in the mock drill, while the purpose of this mock drill was to sensitise people about safety and precautionary measures to be taken during war or war-like situations, Kumar further said.
The civil defence volunteers have been trained to give first-aid, handle emergency situations like for drill, how to handle the dead and injured, and move people to safer places, he said.
State government sources said that the mock drills were conducted at Mumbai, Uran, Tarapur, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Roha-Nagothane, Manmad, Sinnar, Thal Vaishet, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Aurangabad, Bhusawal, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.
"The Maharashtra government is in high alert mode. The administration has given strict instructions to all the agencies to remain alert. The state government has accelerated the activities at the internal level. All the ministers, including the guardian ministers, have been instructed to stay in touch with the administration," said the government sources.
After a hiatus of 54 years, mock drills were held this evening. The last such drills were conducted during 1971 when India and Pakistan fought war on two fronts, resulting in the birth of Bangladesh.
The Kargil war of 1999 was a relatively localised affair, which did not majorly impact the rest of the country.
A senior citizen Satish Kumar Kale recalled having gone through the 1962 Chinese aggression, the 1965 Indo-Pak war and the 1971 war.
"I was in school when China attacked us. We were asked to put out lights at night so that enemy pilots could not identify the city. Also, we were asked to stick brown paper on glass windows so that the splinters do not cause injuries during bombardment."
Another Mumbaikar Krishna Kumar recalled the sirens "which would generate ear-piercing noise any moment of the day or night. We would be scared stiff and huddle under tables.
"During the 1962 war lakhs of women donated their gold ornaments, including mangal sutras, to help the government in war efforts," M Zaveri recalled.
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