By IANS
New Delhi : A car and motorcycle exploded, some men opened fire and tossed grenades and a “chemical attack” took place – these were part of mock drills carried out at four stations of Delhi Metro Thursday morning to check preparedness of the agencies involved in security.
The drills were carried out simultaneously at the Rajiv Chowk, Chawri Bazar, Rithala and Shastri Park stations around 6.15 a.m. under the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to evaluate the performance of the agencies deployed there.
“The mock drills were carried out to review the efficacy of various agencies like Metro, the district administration, the police and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in such scenarios,” NDMA Vice-Chairman N.C. Vij said.
CISF, a central paramilitary unit, was tasked last year to guard the capital’s Metro after it was declared a soft terror target. Over 600,000 commuters use the Metro every day.
At the Rajiv Chowk station in posh commercial district of Connaught Place, which is always crowded, four people carrying out the mock drill not only “opened fire” but “tossed grenades” on the platform. The men were attired in CISF uniform.
They also switched off the platform lights partially, leaving some areas in complete darkness. The drill exposed the lack of coordination among the concerned authorities.
At the Rithala Metro station, “mock” car and motorcycle blasts were triggered in the parking area by using crackers and smoke candles.
In the third drill at the Shastri Park Metro station a call was made to blow up the train depot. The mock drill was carried out to check coordination among the Metro and district administration.
At the Chawri Bazar underground Metro station, which is one of the deepest in thee city, a mock “chemical attack” with poisonous gases was carried out to check the efficiency with which passengers were escorted out of the building.
“The idea of this exercise was to inform people about the emergency procedures and to assess how personnel of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and CISF responded. It was also noticed how efficiently police cordoned off the area,” Vij told reporters.
“It was the joint effort to review the efficacy of all agencies,” Vij added.