Wartime mock drill to take place in 12 dists from today

Amid growing tension between India and Pakistan over Pahalgam terror attack, the state government is set to conduct a full-scale civil defence mock drill across 12 districts from Wednesday as part of a nationwide exercise to boost civilian preparedness against air strike or similar hostile incidents.

- Sudarsan Maharana @Bhubaneswar

Officials said the seven-day-long exercise simulating wartime civilian preparedness will be conducted in Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Kendrapara, Koraput, Puri, Sambalpur and Sundargarh.

"As India gears up to counter terrorism and teach a strong lesson to Pakistan, the exercise will prepare our people for wartime emergencies and train them to deal with all kinds of situations," said Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari.