Statewide mock drills in Meghalaya test civil defence amid rising cross-border tensions

Correspondent

Shillong: Meghalaya on Tuesday conducted simultaneous full-scale mock drills across all 12 districts, spearheaded by the Civil Defence and Home Guard department, in a sweeping exercise to evaluate the state’s readiness for wartime emergencies. The operation, mandated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), comes in the wake of the recent Pahalgam terror attack and India’s retaliatory Operation Sindoor, which saw 24 precision missile strikes across nine targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Addressing media persons, Joint Director Civil Defence and Homeguards MK Sangma said, in Shillong, the capital, the mock drill was carried out at St. Anthony’s School, with active participation from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and students. The simulation involved response measures to an aerial strike scenario, complete with siren warnings and blackout drills.

“We have 12 districts but then we cannot install in all districts as some are not categorized yet. Of the 12, 7 are categorized and 5 are not categorized yet for installation of sirens,” Sangma said.

The Joint Director Civil Defence and Homeguards said

“We will sound the siren in two ways: one is the warning siren. There is the fluctuation sound for two minutes followed by blackout for two minutes and when the blackout is over, we will sound the siren again – one stretch sound for one minute, that means its all clear sound and that means you are safe to come out.”

The drill, framed as a readiness audit, was designed to test inter-agency coordination, public awareness, and operational response in a simulated crisis. It also revealed areas needing improvement across administrative and technical frameworks.

Outlining the chain of response in an air raid scenario, officials said, “The Air Force will intercept the air raid threats and inform the regional civil defence control centre (RCDCC) via hotline/radio communication. The RCDCC will alert the general public by sounding of siren and dessiminate the information to district civil defence control centre (DCDCC) via hotline/radio communication. RCDCC will also inform the Army and selected VVIPs via line/radio communication.”

“The DCDCC will sound the sirens on received of information from RCDCC and also inform district administration and Warden service, which are in place in all localities of Shillong, Tura and Jowai,” the official added. Fire and emergency services across districts will respond to incidents, while SDRF and Quick Response Teams (QRT) will be mobilized to handle casualties and evacuations. Deputy controllers have been empowered to select locations and nature of incident simulations.

Looking ahead, the Joint Director of Civil Defence and Home Guards announced a second phase of drills involving all emergency and support agencies. “In the second phase, we will be having a full-scale mock drill which will involve police, fire service, PWD, medical – all stakeholders will be involved,” he said.

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