Air Strike Scenario Staged at Mumbai's Cross Maidan in Mock Exercise
Mumbai's Mock Catastrophe
At 4 o'clock sharp, a piercing siren echoed through Cross Maidan in southern Mumbai, heralding a make-believe calamity. Civil Defense volunteers leaped into action, establishing a perimeter in a heartbeat.
Witnessing this spectacle was part of Operation Abhyas, an intense nationwide emergency preparedness exercise. In Mumbai, the drills unfolded at strategic locations, like Cross Maidan and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.
The scene unfolding at Cross Maidan mimicked an air assault, commencing with a siren and simulated bombings followed by flames. Firefighters promptly joined the rotation to douse the fires, while paramedics mobilized to tend to the wounded and transport them to hospitals.
To take things up a notch, a demonstration of a high-rise rescue operation was staged, with firefighters brazenly rescuing a person from the fifth floor of a building. Alongside the fire brigade, teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the National Cadet Corps (NCC) joined in, illustrating the seamlessness of their combined efforts.
The proceedings included a thought-provoking scenario where volunteers sought shelter in designated safe areas, adding a layer of realism to the exercise. Despite the rains transforming the Maidan into a quagmire, the teams pressed on.
Speaking to media after the drill, Civil Defense Director Prabhat Kumar explained that Operation Abhyas aimed to test the collaborative responses of various agencies, including the Civil Defense, district administration, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), fire brigade, NDRF, Home Guards, NCC, National Service Scheme (NSS), and paramedics.
"Today's drill simulated an enemy air strike targeting a building," said Kumar, emphasizing the coordinated rescue of civilians caught in the strife and the swift transport of casualties to hospitals.
Know more: Operation Abhyas is an all-encompassing civil defense drill, spread across India, testing and boosting emergency response coordination among countless agencies in the face of various hostile situations such as air raids, bomb attacks, power outages, building fires, and rescue missions. Its purpose is to ensure that local organizations can respond swiftly and work synergistically under pressure during real emergencies.
In Mumbai, the exercise consisted of intricate civil defense drills conducted at essential locations like Cross Maidan, featuring a simulated air strike scenario involving the combined efforts of multiple agencies such as Civil Defense, district administration, BMC, fire brigade, NDRF, Home Guards, NCC, NSS, and paramedics.
Despite the intense drill simulating an enemy air strike in Mumbai, paramedics participated commendably, tendering to the wounded and arranging for their transportation to hospitals. In an unexpected twist, the drill in Mumbai mirrored a sports event, as multiple agencies collaborated seamlessly, with paramedics emulating key players in this emergency simulation. The Mumbai episode of Operation Abhyas brought together various agencies, even merging the environment of a sports team with the paramedics, contributing to a cohesive response in the event of a real-life emergency.
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