Mock terror attacks at Delhi Metro

Mock terror and chemical attacks were carried out simultaneously at various stations of Delhi Metro early this morning to check emergency response of various agencies involved in disaster management.

Monitored by the National Disaster Management Authority, the mock drills were carried out simultaneously at Rajiv Chowk (terror attack), Chawri Bazar (toxic gas release), Rithala (bomb blast at parking area) and Shastri Park (call about planting of bomb at train depot) at around 6:15 am.

"The Metro system anywhere in the world is a lucrative target and we decided to carry out the mock drill here to review the efficacy of various agencies like Metro, district administration and police in such scenarios," NDMA Vice Chairman Gen (Retd) NC Vij said.

This is the first time a mock exercise on disaster management is conducted in the capital which used multi-hazard situations to review efficacy of state and district administration in responding to the problem.

At Rajiv Chowk station in Connaught Place, a mock attack was carried out by four persons attired in CISF uniform opening fire and throwing grenades at the passengers platform.

The "attackers" also then managed to partially switch off the lights at the platform, with complete darkness prevailing in station control room.

"The idea of this exercise was to assess how personnel of DMRC and CISF responded, how efficiently police cordoned off the area and how fast the administration was in setting the incident command post," NEDA member JK Sinha said.