MHA has decided to organise the Civil Defence Exercise across the 244 categorised Civil Defence Districts of the country.
- Civil Defence Districts are those districts which are tactically and strategically considered vulnerable from enemy attack points of view.
Civil Defence Exercise
- It is a preparedness exercise aimed at testing how civilians and government systems respond during emergencies like war, missile attacks, aerial strikes, or disasters.
- It assesses the operational efficacy and coordination of various Civil Defence measures including:
- Effectiveness of air raid warning systems, operationalisation of Hotline or Radio Communication Links with the Indian Air Force, as well as to test the functionality of control room.
- Training of civilians and students to protect themselves in the event of a hostile attack.
- Provision for early camouflaging of vital installations and update of evacuation plan and its rehearsal.
- Last such drill was conducted in the run-up to the 1971 war between India & Pakistan.
Civil Defence Provisions in India
- Civil Defence Act, 1968, passed after India-China War (1962) and India-Pakistan War (1965), provides for measures affording protection to any person, property, place or thing against any hostile attack, whether from air, land, sea or other places.
- Act authorized the raising of Civil Defence Corps and for making Rules and Regulations for Civil Defence.
