Civil defence mock drills held in Rajasthan to test emergency preparedness

     Jaipur, May 7 (PTI) Mock drills were carried out in two phases in cities of Rajasthan following directions from the Ministry of Home Affairs in which response time for rescue and relief work was checked.
     The home ministry had called for such exercises to be organised in light of the "new and complex threats" following the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.
     At 4 pm, mock drills on air strikes and other forms of attack were held and at 8.30 pm, a 15-minute power blackout was witnessed.
     At some places, police teams stopped vehicles and asked them to switch off their headlight. A railway spokesperson said trains parked at railway stations were halted for 15 minutes and during the blackout.
     A similar scene was witnessed at Jaipur international airport also where except emergency lights, all other lights were switched off, an airport spokesperson said.
     Prior to the blackout, Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph said everyone should voluntarily participate in the blackout so that people are aware about the dos and donts in a war-like situation.
     At the BSNL office at MI Road in Jaipur, an air strike was simulated at 4 pm. Officials said there was a control room, and fire brigades, civil defence teams, ambulances were rushed to the office. The building was evacuated and traffic on MI Road was blocked to carry out the relief and rescue work.
     In Bikaner, an attack on a police station was simulated. The injured were given first aid treatment and senior officers were informed. Ambulance was called to the police station.
     Mock drill was also conducted in Kota at the circuit house in the presence of collector Ravindra Goswami and SP Amrita Duhan. They said the response time of the agencies was checked during the exercise.
     "The teams of different departments are carrying out the mock drill in coordination," the collector said.
     The drill simulated a rescue operation following an air strike at a government building. A similar drill was held in Bundi district also.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)