Amritsar resumes blackout as part of nationwide civil defence drill; DPRO urges residents not to panic

HORNBILL TV

As part of a nationwide civil defence drill, the Amritsar district administration resumed blackout measures on Wednesday to ensure public safety and preparedness, according to the DPRO.

Amritsar (Punjab) [India], May 8 (HBTV): As part of a nationwide civil defence drill, the Amritsar district administration resumed blackout measures on Wednesday to ensure public safety and preparedness, according to the District Public Relations Officer (DPRO).

‘Taking utmost caution, the Amritsar district administration has again started the blackout process. Please stay at home, do not panic and do not gather outside your houses; keep the outside lights switched off,’ the Amritsar DPRO said in a statement.

The blackout is part of a nationwide civil defence mock drill ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to assess emergency preparedness in the event of future threats. The exercise involved scheduled blackouts at key locations across the country.

Speaking about an earlier blackout in Amritsar, ASI Jagtar Singh told ANI: ‘The blackout was between 10.30 pm and 11 pm, half an hour. The directions are that there should not be any lights on so that the enemy may not know there is a city here. The rehearsal is being done for the interest of the country... Some people are following the blackout, and some are not... The siren was activated and then there was a complete blackout within two minutes.’

Similar blackout drills were observed in several states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Bihar. Cities such as Barmer, Gwalior, Surat, Shimla, and Patna participated by switching off lights at key buildings and public areas. In Delhi, Rashtrapati Bhavan and Vijay Chowk went dark, while Raj Bhavan in Patna also observed the drill.

Earlier in the day, civil defence mock drills were carried out in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Gwalior, and Jaipur to test the readiness of local authorities and public response during emergencies.

The nationwide drill came in the backdrop of Operation Sindoor, launched by the Indian Armed Forces early on Wednesday. The operation was a retaliatory strike on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 civilians, including one Nepali national, were killed. (ANI)