A full-scale civil defence mock drill will be conducted across 19 districts of Uttar Pradesh — including major urban centres like Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, and Meerut — on Wednesday, as part of a nationwide exercise to assess preparedness against emerging security threats. State police chief Prashant Kumar said the drill, ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs, will involve coordinated operations by the civil and police administration, fire services, and disaster response force in all districts of the state, not just the 19 officially identified.
“We have received instructions from the Government of India about civil defence mock drills on May 7. Nineteen districts in Uttar Pradesh have been marked for focused simulation,” DGP Kumar told reporters on Tuesday. These have been divided into three categories: one under 'A', two under 'C', and the rest under 'B'. However, Kumar clarified that every district will be part of the integrated exercise. “Keeping local sensitivities in mind, joint drills across all districts involving all verticals will be conducted to ensure coordinated response in emergency scenarios,” he said.
The drill comes amid heightened tensions with Pakistan following the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, which has prompted the Centre to review national emergency preparedness protocols.
Full list of districts in Uttar Pradesh where mock drills will be conducted on Wednesday, May 7:
- Agra
- Allahabad
- Bareilly
- Baghpat
- Bulandshahr (Narora)
- Ghaziabad
- Gorakhpur
- Jhansi
- Kanpur
- Lucknow
- Mathura
- Meerut
- Moradabad
- Saharanpur
- Bakshi-Ka-Talab
- Muzaffarnagar
- Mughalsarai
- Sarsawa
- Varanasi
'Will take every required step': Deputy CM Maurya
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya welcomed the Centre’s decision, calling it “a timely and necessary measure” in the current environment. “Every citizen must now be in battle-ready mode. To deliver a decisive blow to the enemies of the nation, we will take every required step,” he said.
ABVP urges student participation
The ABVP, the student wing of the RSS, also supported the initiative and urged widespread student participation. In a statement, it said, “National security is a shared responsibility. Our educational institutions must become hubs of awareness and preparedness.” ABVP national general secretary Virendra Singh Solanki said, “Citizens, especially the youth, must play their part in building a safe, strong, and self-reliant Bharat.”
(With inputs from PTI)
