AP Requires a Civil Defence Organisation in Each District

Vijayawada: There is a need to have a civil defence organisation in every district of Andhra Pradesh. At present, there is only one such body in Visakhapatnam to conduct regular civil defence mock drills, where key installations exist. This brings about awareness among people on how to deal with war-like emergency situations to ensure their safety.

Any civil defence organisation in a district works under the control of the district collector, with a CDO (civil defence officer) keeping track of all major and key installations in the district. Mock drills are conducted at regular intervals at these installations, so that any emergency can be dealt with.

The centre called for a nation-wide civil defence mock drill on Wednesday, Visakhapatnam being one of the districts which has been selected for the drill due to its key installations and vulnerability to attacks.

While the situation between India and Pakistan remains tense, India took up Operation Sindoor in retaliation for Pakistan-backed terrorists killing Indian tourists in Pahalgam. The centre gave liberty to states to choose the districts where it would conduct the mock civic defence drills. AP seems to have not opted for such drills other than in Visakhapatnam.

Sources privy to the development say that in the next round of such drills, a few more districts from AP are likely to practise the drills, including Vijayawada, which has installations like Prakasam Barrage and the thermal power station.

Visakhapatnam regional fire officer and nodal officer for civil defence mock drill D. Niranjan Reddy said, “We blew the siren to alert people about the emergency-like situation. As part of the drill, people got evacuated to a designated hospital. We expect a few more districts like NTR and Tirupati to be included in the conduct of such drills in the next round.”

Additional SP G.V. Ramana Murthy led the civil defence mock drill at the railway station. SP A. Hanumanthu led the same at the APSRTC Bus Station.