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In the early hours of Thursday, May 8, 2025, the district administration in Amritsar conducted another blackout rehearsal shortly after a nationwide civil defense mock drill had concluded. Residents were advised to stay indoors and remain calm as the drill commenced around 1:30 a.m.
This precautionary exercise followed a series of nationwide drills ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs to assess security readiness. The blackout in Amritsar was part of the same civil defense initiative. These mock drills simulated various emergency scenarios, including air raids, fire emergencies, and search and rescue operations, and were executed across multiple states and Union Territories under ‘Operation Abhyaas’.
The drills were prompted by the Indian military’s launch of Operation Sindoor, which targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for a recent attack in Pahalgam that resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians.
The exercises aimed to train civilians for potential hostile attacks, implement blackout measures, camouflage critical installations, and evaluate the effectiveness of civil defense responses and evacuation plans. Nearly 300 civil defense districts, encompassing sensitive sites such as nuclear plants, military bases, and hydroelectric dams, participated in these drills, which included air-raid warning sirens and civilian training for hostile situations.
Similar emergency scenario drills were conducted in Punjab in cities such as Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Bathinda, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Patiala, Pathankot, Barnala, and Mohali.
(Newsroom staff only edited this story for style from a syndicated feed.)
