Mock drills to be held at two places in TN, Chief Secy holds review meeting

N Muruganandam, Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu

The civil defence mock drills will be conducted at the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), Kalpakkam in Chengalpattu district, and in the Chennai Port Trust, here on May 7, at 4 pm, the state government informed on Tuesday.

As per the instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), mock drills will be undertaken in these two vital installations to handle an incoming air raid. The conditions will be simulated to check the preparedness of the systems to handle any kind of emergency, the government said.

The MHA had issued directives to states to conduct full-scale civil defence mock drills on Wednesday amidst escalating tension between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

“It has been decided to organise Civil Defence exercise and rehearsal in certain vital installations as instructed by the Union Home Ministry… The State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) in Tamil Nadu has been activated and will function from the premises of the State Disaster Management Authority at Ezhilagam,” an official release here said.

During the mock drill in the two installations, the District Disaster Management Authority headed by the District Collector, Civil Defence officials (Home Guards), Fire Department officials and other connected departments will be involved. The mock drill will take place from 4 pm to 4.30 pm.

On Tuesday evening, state Chief Secretary N Muruganandam chaired a meeting with all the State and Central agencies and it was attended among others by Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Dheeraj Kumar, and senior officials from the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Director General of Police Shankar Jiwal, Project Director, MAPS, Kalpakkam, Chairman, Chennai Port Trust, and Chengalpattu Collector S Arunraj.

This civil defence exercise was only a mock drill to check the preparedness in the selected vital installations. “All other functions in other places will go on normally. There is no need for any panic or apprehension among the public about this exercise,” the release said.

Published on May 6, 2025