Nationwide Blackout Drill Tests Indias Emergency Readiness Amid Operation Sindoor Strikes

In a large-scale civil defence drill, a number of states in India performed coordinated blackouts on Wednesday as a part of a national emergency preparedness workout below the MHA directive. The blackout used to be meant to check the country’s preparedness to counter huge safety threats and disruptions.

Major landmarks like Rashtrapati Bhavan and Vijay Chowk within the nationwide capital, and Raj Bhavan in Patna, have been a few of the main places that took section within the drill. Barmer (Rajasthan), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Surat (Gujarat), Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), and Patna (Bihar) towns additionally joined in, accomplishing timed energy shutdowns and synchronised mock drills.

#WATCH | Lights flip again on at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi following the blackout, as a part of the mock drill ordered through the MHA. pic.twitter.com/82H3txVBcn
— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2025

Large town hubs akin to Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Jaipur, and Gwalior additionally carried out different workout routines previous all through the day to check native reaction mechanisms and inter-agency coordination between safety companies. Officials added that the blackout drills have been efficient in measuring preparedness and interagency reaction effectiveness.

The civil defence drill used to be performed simply hours after the Indian Armed Forces introduced Operation Sindoor, a high-accuracy army assault on 9 terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). The operation used to be a response to the April 22 terror strike in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, that killed 26 civilians, together with a Nepali citizen.

During a press convention in Delhi, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi defined the objectives and achievements of Operation Sindoor. According to Wing Commander Singh, the objectives have been recognized with utmost care to stop civilian casualties, reiterating the Indian Armed Forces’ dedication to neutralising militant infrastructure most effective.

“The strikes were aimed at delivering justice to the victims of the Pahalgam attack,” mentioned Wing Commander Singh. “All nine terrorist camps were destroyed successfully, with zero civilian infrastructure damage.”

Col. Qureshi displayed the strike pictures, together with objectives on camps at Muridke—the place Mumbai attacker David Headley and 2008 Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab were skilled—and Sarjal in Sialkot, Markaz Ahle Hadith, Barnala, Markaz Abbas, and Mehmoona Joya camp.

Foreign Secretary Misri termed the Pahalgam assault an effort to disillusioned the go back of peace in Jammu and Kashmir as an act of “barbarity” supposed to instill worry. “Victims were shot at close range in front of their families. It was a message of terror aimed at upsetting the stability of the region,” he said.

Operation Sindoor is being seen as India’s private army incursion into Pakistani territory because the 1971 battle, marking a vital escalation in New Delhi’s counterterrorism doctrine.

The blackout drill and Operation Sindoor in combination signalled a heightened nationwide safety posture, with officers stressing the significance of preparedness and strategic decisiveness within the face of evolving threats.