Panaji (Goa) [India], May 7 : A comprehensive Civil Defence mock drill was conducted in Panaji on Wednesday evening as part of the nationwide exercise ordered by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Speaking of the exercise, a senior official stated that this mock drill was meant to raise awareness among people.
"It is as per the directions of the MHA. The Collector of North Goa has directed us to conduct a mock exercise. This is happening in three places. Since Panjim and most parts of Goa are coastal areas, there are more chances of an attack. So, this mock is to raise awareness among people about such situations and what needs to be done..." said Deputy Collector of North Goa, Vinayak Chari.
Such drills were conducted across major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Gwalior, and Jaipur, to evaluate local response capabilities to security challenges.
Meanwhile, blackout drills were also conducted in several states as part of the nationwide civil defence mock drills ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The exercise, which involved scheduled blackouts at key locations, aimed to test the country's emergency preparedness against potential threats.
From Rashtrapati Bhavan and Vijay Chowk in Delhi to Raj Bhavan in Patna, lights were switched off at several key places.
Cities like Barmer in Rajasthan, Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, Surat in Gujarat, Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, and Patna in Bihar also took part in the drill.
This came after the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of Wednesday, targeting terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). This operation was a retaliatory response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians, including one Nepali national.
Hours after India conducted a series of strikes on terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh held a media briefing in the national capital to share the details of the operation.
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, who briefed the media alongside Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, stated that 'Operation Sindoor' was launched to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families.
"Operation Sindoor was launched by the Indian Armed Forces to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families. Nine terrorist camps were targeted and successfully destroyed... The locations were so selected to avoid damage to civilian infrastructures and loss of any civilian lives", Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said.
Col Sofiya Qureshi presented the videos of the destruction of terror camps, including from the Muridke where David Headley and Ajmal Kasab, perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, received training. Other than Muridke, Sarjal camp in Sialkot, Markaz Ahle Hadith, Barnala and Markaz Abbas, Kotli and Mehmoona Joya camp, Sialkot, were targeted in the strikes conducted by the Indian Army, Col Qureshi informed.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that the attack on Pahalgam was driven by an objective of undermining the return of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir.
India has carried out its deepest strikes inside Pakistan's undisputed territory since 1971, successfully targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This marks New Delhi's most significant military action within Pakistani territory in over five decades.