As Hyderabad prepares for a mock drill amid rising India-Pakistan tensions, Telangana’s civil defence establishment has one message for the public — “Do not panic.”
Sirens will be heard across the state’s capital within its sprawling Outer Ring Road at 4 pm on Wednesday. As many as 12 defence services will lead the mock drill.
Industrial sirens, fire sirens and police mikes will be activated at this time, during which citizens are urged to “seek shelter”.
“Move away from open areas and find a sturdy building or underground shelter,” the mock drill advice read. Most importantly, the advisory said, people should not pay heed to rumours, but should rely on state information channels.
At 4.15 pm, the 12 defence services will be alerted “of an air raid in four different locations in the city”. The police, fire brigade, rescue and state disaster response teams, as well as medical, revenue and local municipal authorities are to reach their “respective incident sites” by 4.20 pm.
Detailing the mock rescue scenario, the advisory said that while police will “clear the incident site and arrange for the transport of the injured and evacuation of the public to safe shelters”, civil defence wardens and volunteers will report the “damage (and) missing persons list to the fire brigade and rescue services”.
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Firefighting drills will also be held, and search and rescue will be activated with the disaster response team being pressed into action.
As the mock rescue happens, civil defence leaders will be on the road to facilitate operations. Medical and health services will be pressed into action immediately to give first aid.
“Mock casualty evacuation from buildings will be carried out at the same time,” the advisory said.
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Meanwhile, “The transport services will be ready to evacuate the public”. Revenue, civil supplies, municipal corporation and other local bodies will have to prepare to provide “immediate relief to the public at the safe shelters”.
The drill will include blackout measures, too. “Blackout measures during air raids are designed to minimise visibility to enemy aircraft and reduce the risk of bombings,” the advisory read. While public lights, including streetlights, building lights, and illuminated advertisements will be turned off to prevent detection, the general public can cover their windows with opaque material to block light from escaping. “Car headlights are dimmed or covered to reduce visibility from the air. Also, important facilities like power stations and communication towers will be concealed to avoid targeting”.
At 4.30 pm, the city will return to normalcy, with sirens being sounded to stop the drill. “All citizens are requested to cooperate with all government agencies involved in the mock drill. They are requested not to believe any rumours or news originating from non-governmental sources,” the advisory read.
