Delhi conducts citywide civil defence mock drill

New Delhi: A citywide Civil Defence mock exercise was conducted across Delhi at 8 pm on Thursday to assess emergency preparedness and coordination among various response agencies in the event of an air raid-like situation.

As part of the drill, all districts identified at least one location to carry out blackout measures. The exercise followed a structured sequence of alerts, beginning with a “Yellow” warning issued by the Air Force to the Regional Civil Defence Control Centre (RCDCC), indicating a possible air raid and placing all emergency agencies on alert.

The warning was relayed from RCDCC to the State Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and further to district EOCs, which alerted all Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) to remain prepared. No immediate action was taken at this stage, as per protocol.

The situation escalated with a “Red” alert, signalling an imminent air raid. This triggered sirens across districts for two minutes with a wailing sound. Authorities enforced blackout measures, halted vehicular movement and advised people to take shelter, preferably in underground spaces.

Officials said the drill was aimed at testing coordination between civil defence units, emergency services and district administrations, while also evaluating the readiness of systems and public response during emergencies.

In the final phase, a “Green” alert was issued, indicating that the threat had passed. District EOCs sounded continuous sirens for two minutes to signal “all clear,” following which emergency teams initiated mock response actions such as firefighting, evacuation, first aid and casualty management.

Authorities stated that the exercise was conducted smoothly and highlighted the importance of such drills in strengthening disaster preparedness and response mechanisms across

the capital.