Blasts Reported in Amritsar, Gurdaspur; Blackout Reimposed, Public Told to Remain Inside

As part of the nationwide civil security exercise, the Amritsar district administration has reintroduced blackout measures to ensure public safety and preparedness, the District Public Relations Officer (DPRO) said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, sounds of explosions were heard in the Attari and Ajnala sectors of Amritsar and the Dera Baba Nanak area of ​​Gurdaspur after midnight.

The administration had again started the blackout process
Amritsar DPRO said in a statement that out of utmost caution, the Amritsar district administration has again started the blackout process.

This decision was taken considering the future dangers
The blackout in Amritsar was part of a nationwide civil defence mock drill ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to check emergency preparedness in case of future threats. The exercise involved scheduled blackouts at major locations across the country.

Talking about the earlier blackout in Amritsar, ASI Jagtar Singh told ANI that the blackout was for half an hour, between 10.30 pm and 11 pm. The instructions were that no lights should be lit so that the enemy would not know that there is a city here.
Some people are following the blackout, and some aren't. He said that rehearsals were being done for the benefit of the country... some people were following the blackout, and some were not... the siren started,d and then within two minutes there was a complete blackout.

Similar blackouts were observed in several states, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Bihar. Cities like Barmer, Gwalior, Surat, Shimla, and Patna participated by switching off lights at major buildings and public places. Rashtrapati Bhawan and Vijay Chowk in the national capital Delh,i also remained dark for the drill. Raj Bhawan in Patna also participated in it.

Civil Defence Mock Drill conducted
Earlier in the day, civil defence mock drills were conducted in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Gwalior, and Jaipur. These exercises aimed to assess how local authorities and citizens respond to emergencies.

Nationwide preparedness exercises are being conducted after the launch of Operation Sindoor
The nationwide preparedness exercise comes after the Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor on Wednesday. It was a retaliatory strike on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 in which 26 civilians, including a Nepali national, were killed.