Mock drill at Mumbai's Wadala station to maintain officers' readiness to respond to emergency crisis

An unattended handbag found on Wadala railway station created panic on Friday afternoon. The bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) rushed to the spot and checked the bag, but found nothing suspicious. Later, it was disclosed that the exercise was part of a mock drill to check the response time of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) and other agencies concerned.

In this 'mega exercise', the teams of RPF, GRP, Fire Brigade and other agencies concerned participated. The mock drill commenced at around 12 noon. This situation warranted a response from multiple agencies, therefore, a message was flashed through respective control rooms.

According to a senior railway official, 71 personnel from different agencies (bomb disposal units of GRP and RPF dog squad) took part in the operation to coordinate and supervise the exercise.

Asked about the benefits of mock drills, a senior officer of Central Railway said, "Mock drills are a sort of training exercise that is used to assess an organisation's readiness and identify problem areas. It is a regular training practice used by the safety security department to keep employees prepared. By engaging in these drills, employees maintain their readiness to respond to any emergency crisis."