Andaman & Nicobar Islands fully prepared for Civil Defence mock drills: Official

Port Blair, May 6 (PTI) The Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is fully prepared for the Civil Defence mock drills to be held on Wednesday, an official said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday asked several states to conduct mock drills on Wednesday in view of "new and complex threats" that have emerged amid rising tension with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.

On Tuesday afternoon, senior bureaucrats including officials from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Civil Defence, held a meeting and planned areas for mock drills to sensitise the local residents and tourists on how to act while maintaining precautions during an emergency, the official said.

Deputy Commissioner of South Andaman, Arjun Sharma said, "The strategic location of Andaman and Nicobar Island is very important as far as India's maritime security is concerned. Also, it is located in the middle of the sea and therefore from time to time we have given importance and conducted several mock drills in the past too. We are fully prepared for the mock drills and finalisation of the civil defence exercise (Operation Abhyaas) has been done as per the advisory issued from the MHA." He said, "The aim is to train local residents to protect themselves in case of any attack. They will be briefed on how to act or react during an emergency while protecting themselves from any untoward incident." The mock drill is scheduled on Wednesday at 4 pm at Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkeeya Mahavidyalaya (JNRM College) in Port Blair to test the response system of the civil defence district of South Andaman, he said.

All emergency support functionaries (ESFs) of South Andaman district including district administration, police, fire services, health, ANC, NDRF, education, disaster management, BSNL, transport, civil supplies, electricity, etc, will actively participate in this exercise.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (South Andaman), Vinayak Chamadia said, "The mock drill will simulate emergency scenarios created in the identified location and inform all emergency support functions (ESF) to deploy their teams in the incident sites to manage the situation while following the pre-defined SOPs." An awareness campaign will be made by the police and Directorate of Information, Publicity and Tourism Office (IP&T) to inform the general public of the blowing of sirens during Wednesday's mock drill, the official added. PTI SN SN RG