Telangana to Hold Mega Disaster Mock Drills on May 18

Hyderabad:The Telangana government is set to conduct state-level disaster mock drills on floods, industrial accidents and forest fires across multiple districts on May 18 as part of efforts to strengthen disaster preparedness. The drills will be preceded by a tabletop exercise scheduled for May 15.

Reviewing preparations during a video conference at the Integrated Command and Control Centre on Thursday, state revenue disaster management secretary D. Harichandana said the mock drills are crucial for strengthening inter-departmental coordination and ensuring a faster response during emergencies.

Director General of Telangana Fire Services Vikram Singh Mann said nearly 60 departments and Central agencies, including the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), will participate in the exercise. Under the 2026 exercise plan, mock flood drills will be conducted in 13 districts, industrial accident simulations in five districts and forest fire drills in four districts.

The first mock drill exercise, conducted with the support of the NDMA in December 2025, proved highly effective. This year’s meeting was attended virtually from New Delhi by NDMA lead consultant Maj. Gen. Sudhir Behl (Retd), who gave a detailed presentation on the roles of the Central and State governments during emergencies. He also covered inter-departmental coordination, planning, Incident Response System guidelines, establishment of relief camps, hospital preparedness and preventive measures to tackle forest fires.

The meeting was also attended by senior officials from the Fire Services, NDRF, SDRF, CISF, CRPF, Army, Health, Forest, Industries and other departments.