The civil defence mock drill began with the screech of a fire tender siren at 4 pm on Wednesday. On a handheld loudspeaker, a man announced: “Please make way for those ‘trapped’ in the fourth floor.” The location was Avalon Apartment at Mehdipatnam in Hyderabad.
Then came four ambulances, their sirens on, to stop at the entrance of the building. State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams rushed into the building, jogging in two neat lines. The man on the speaker said, “Please move to the side, everyone.” A teeming crowd of police officials, firefighters, NCC cadets, SDRF, and NDRF personnel moved to the side.
Personnel from as many as 12 departments were on the ground to be part of the mock drill, held on the day India struck Pakistan’s terror camps in Operation Sindoor.
Onlookers took out their cell phones to click photographs of the drill, which was unfolding in front on them. (Express Photo by Nikhila Henry)
On the hot summer day in Hyderabadthe smell of burning wood filled the air. Something was set on fire to be doused later, as part of the drill. Three fire tending vehicles lumbered on to the drive way. “In the fourth floor, there are children and women,” came the loudspeaker announcement.
On the fourth floor, SDRF officials picked up eight children — boys and girls in their teens — and jogged down precariously, taking each step on the staircase with ease. The children seemed comfortable resting on their arms.
Earlier in the day, a similar mock drill was held in Hyderabad’s Kacheguda railway station where people witnessed emergency security procedure. There the lights were dimmed, as NCC cadets “secured” passengers of the South Central Railways. Another such drill was conducted at Secunderabad by Hyderabad’s defence establishments. Here, NCC cadets led the show — simulating the securing, rescuing and defending of vital infrastructure and personnel.
At the Mehdipatnam apartment, women were led down the stairs by men in uniform. “Keep the driveway open,” the loudspeaker announced. Ambulance doors hurriedly opened and those “rescued” were put on laid out stretchers. These vehicles were to be taken to the nearby hospital. As they moved out of the driveway, the fire tenders were pressed into action. Someone picked up a hose and doused the fire, which was raging on one side of the building.
Story continues below this ad
Onlookers took out their cell phones to click photographs of the drill, which was unfolding in front on them. But the drill from across four residential locations in the city were being monitored at the Integrated Command Control Centre in Hyderabad’s core city.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had already announced that the state is on high alert and that people should be vigilant. “The Centre and the State are working together to secure citizens,” Reddy had said.
Once the fire tenders and the ambulances moved away, traffic police controlled vehicular movement to let the rescue vehicles move ahead. The drill was coming to an end. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation workers picked up medical waste — gloves and bandages — lying on the ground. A local politician thanked the apartment owners for cooperating with the drill.
A 15-year-old girl, who was watching the drill, said, “We don’t know what’s going to happen.” By then the Tricolour was being waved and the chants of “Bharat Mata ki jai” and “Jai Hind” drowned out the murmurs.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
