Not Just Punjab, J&K Set To Hold Blackout Mock Drill In Anantnag, Ganderbal

A blackout mock drill will be held in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag and Ganderbal districts on April 23, Thursday, as part of a district-wide emergency preparedness and safety training.

According to a statement from the District Magistrate, a civil defence air raid blackout mock exercise will be conducted at 3:30 and a blackout exercise from 8 pm to 8:15 pm. A civil defence air raid mock defence drill will be held in Ganderbal on 2:30 pm, and a blackout exercise at 8 pm.

“This exercise aims to familiarise citizens with emergency response protocols during blackout or crisis situations and evaluate the readiness of the public and administration,” the statement read. The people have been asked to follow all instructions, including turning off all lights

and preparing a safety route for elderly citizens and children.

This came after the Ministry of Home Affairs ordered that a blackout mock drill will be held in several areas of Ludhiana and Amritsar in Punjab at 8 pm on April 24, Friday.

The drill will be carried out at Pytex Ground, Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar and Ludhiana’s Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), along with areas under the Aggar Nagar PSPCL division, on Friday from 8 to 8:15 pm.

The mock exercise will also include symbolic rehearsals of firefighting operations, search and rescue activities, first aid and medical assistance, transportation of the injured, and measures for traffic and crowd control. Essential services will continue to operate during this time.

Last year, these mock drills were held in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir in May, shortly before India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, which completed its one-year anniversary today.

On May 31, mock drills were held in all the districts of six border regions – Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, and Chandigarh – as part of Operation Shield, which aimed to assess and strengthen India’s preparedness against possible external threats.