Visakhapatnam: The sirens of fire engines screeched to a halt as the rescue teams’ stepped out of the vehi-cles to carry out rescue operations as part of the mock drill.

With a primary objective to strengthen emergency response framework and assess the readiness of people in the advent of a wartime or crisis situation, ‘Operation Abhyas’ was carried out in Visakhapatnam which was designated as category II city for the exercise.

In Visakhapatnam, the civil defence mock drill was carried out in different locations, includ-ing Andhra University College of Engineering and One Town Area.

The exercise was conducted to make people be prepared in case of any emergency situation by cooperating with each other. Personnel from the Navy, Army Coast Guard, revenue, among other wings, chipped in for the exercise.

As part of the simulated hostile attack scenario, some of the victims were carried over the shoulders by the rescue teams, a few others were shifted to an ambulance.

With perfect coordination of police, civil agents, navy, NDRF and SDRF, the mock drills were carried out in an effective manner.

In line with the Central government’s guidelines, the district administration conducted a civil defence mock drill at several places in Visakhapatnam city.

The security forces gave demonstrations to alert the public and be aware of how to respond in case of unexpected terrorist attacks. Civil defence, fire service, SDRF, NDRF, police, GVMC, revenue, civil supplies, medical department and several volunteers participated in the operation ‘Operation Abhyas’ held at two different venues in One Town Area-- Ranibomma centre and Queen Mary Girls’ High School.

Earlier, the fire department personnel conducted the exercise at two apartment buildings in Ranibomma centre in a simulated situation where militants attacked them with smoke bombs. The rescue teams saved the trapped people. Later, SDRF teams conducted a special mock drill at Queen Mary Girls’ High School to prepare the students and the public.

They gave demonstrations on how to rescue students and teachers stuck in classrooms and how they have to respond during such emergency situations. They explained to the people how to respond when the alarm rings and how to reach a safe zone. They showed how to save themselves from the top of the buildings with the help of ropes.

During the mock drill, the SDRF officials made the people aware of the use of the equipment in the special vehicle and how to escape from the spot. SDRF IG Rajakumari, District Collec-tor MN Harendhira Prasad, Police Commissioner Shankhabrata Bagchi, Joint Collector K Mayur Ashok supervised the exercise. The security forces alerted the people on how to re-spond if the power supply gets interrupted and attacks are launched.

Speaking on the occasion, District Collector MN Harendhira Prasad informed that in the next few days, civil mock drills will be conducted in all ward secretariats in the city and the peo-ple will be alerted against terror attacks.

Earlier, a mock drill was also conducted at Andhra University College of Engineering in co-ordination with NCC cadets and NRDC team.

The Waltair Division of East Coast Railway conducted a civil defence mock drill as per the directive of the Union Home Ministry. The exercise was held at the Divisional Railway Man-ager’s Office under the supervision of Senior Divisional Safety Officer MK Sahoo, with active participation from a team of civil defence volunteers and other stakeholders.

The mock drill simulated a hostile attack scenario to assess emergency preparedness and enhance coordination among various departments and agencies. Activities included blackout procedures, evacuation to designated safe zones, shutdown of non-essential lighting, and comprehensive rescue operations.

Meanwhile, Jana Jagrana Samiti hailed ‘Operation Sindoor’ by holding the national flags at RK Beach near Victory at Sea. Samiti city convener Ch Sunil Kumar appealed to the Union government to continue the operation until all the militants were killed.