Midweek Musings 37, 19.08.2026

                                       Need for Mock Drills

By Malini Shankar

Digital Discourse

When I asked Ask Gemini the question “How many mock drills have been held world over since the Colombian earthquake?, the answer I got is copied below:

“There is no single, globally tracked count of every mock drill held worldwide since major Colombian earthquakes (such as the devastating 1999 Armenia earthquake or the 1979 Tumaco earthquake). Because earthquake mock drills occur daily on micro and macro levels across thousands of jurisdictions worldwide, a comprehensive total does not exist. Here is why:

1. Decentralized & Routine Execution

• Schools and Universities: Millions of educational institutions in earthquake-prone regions (e.g., Japan, California, Chile, Turkey, India) conduct mandatory earthquake drills multiple times a year. Workplaces and Local Municipalities: Local emergency response units, hospitals, and private companies execute thousands of independent simulated exercises each week.

2. Mass Global Initiatives

Rather than isolated events, global participation is driven by massive, recurring annual initiatives that yield millions of individual drills:

• The Great Shake Out: Originating in California, this annual earthquake drill now includes over 50+ million participants globally each year across the US, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and Latin America. National Mock Drills in Colombia: Colombia itself conducts annual national preparedness drills (Simulacro Nacional de Respuesta a Emergencias), involving millions of citizens, emergency responders, and civil defence teams across hundreds of municipalities. Regional & International Exercises: International bodies like the UN (INSARAG) regularly coordinate multi-nation simulation exercises (SIMEX)—such as international search-and-rescue drills conducted across South America, South Asia, and the Mediterranean.

Summary: While large-scale regional and national drills number in the tens of thousands annually, including localized school, workplace, and emergency responder simulations pushes the global total into millions of mock drills performed worldwide over the past few decades”.

The significance of Mock drills cannot be overemphasised. The lessons learnt in search and rescue have to be necessarily shared and documented in the public domain.  For example SAR teams may put it on paper that “Elevators on a multi storeyed building were jammed after this Earthquake hampering movement of rescue officials”…

OR

“The basement car park had become a heap of metal, hampering approach to the apartment complex that had collapsed in the earthquake…”

OR

We found a person alive but critically injured and bleeding profusely. Extricating the metal chokehold on her throat led to more bleeding. By the time we brought her to hospital she died because of excessive bleeding and trauma. If only the pathway to the ambulance had been cleared or if the hospital was nearer we could have saved her”

After the Great Andaman earthquake (which triggered the Asian Tsunami) great emphasis has rightly been laid on development being made part of human development index. That is why it is emphasised that a primary health care centre should be located every 5 square kilometre so as to serve a maximum of 5000 people or lesser.

Common property resources or in the urban development context – common areas must be accessible to all- particularly ambulances, and fire brigade. This is where corruption becomes the curse on Humanity. The corrupt bureaucrat would likely turn a blind eye to the misappropriation of the Civic Amenity Site – meant to house the nearest fire brigade station would have likely become a local super market which can be blurred between corruption manifest and a common area / common property resource available to all.

Mock drills are of greatest significance to personnel of the search and rescue agencies, and medical first responders.  If the medical first responders put it down that it is essential for hospitals to screen human blood supply for HIV or other blood disorders like Thalassemia, this becomes policy during the next legislative session. Emergencies call for blood infusion. It is thus very important to have blood donation screened and certified: lest the recipient will suffer unknown medical complications like HIV, Thalassaemia, sexually transmitted diseases or even Tuberculosis. People who survive a nightmarish earthquake do not deserve such prospects, surely.

The broader lesson in this is for politicians, policy makers and legislators. This lesson surely (one hopes) makes them understand that is utterly unsustainable to let unemployed migrants beseech places like Bangalore and let it burst at its seams. Housing for migrants has to literally manifest as inclusive horizontal economic growth instead of vertical matchboxes a.k.a. concrete jungles. Even jungle law cannot prevail in such vertical concrete jungles.

India has not had a civil mock drill in preparation for an earthquake or natural calamity ever-since the National Disaster Management Act was legislated back in 2005. To the best of my knowledge India conducted a Mock Drill only hours before Op Sindoor and none after the 2012 Mock Drill.

I asked Gemini “Has India ever conducted mock drill before 2025's Op Sindoor?” and this is what it said:

“Yes, India has a long history of conducting mock drills across military, civil defence, and disaster management domains prior to 2025. Wartime and civil defence mock drills involving air raid sirens, evacuation procedures, and blackout rehearsals were routine practice during major conflicts, particularly during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani Wars. Similar localized civil defence exercises were also executed during the 1962 Sino-Indian War.

Mock drills in India are routinely conducted across three main operational areas:

• Civil Defence & National Security: Nationwide and border-state civil defence drills (air raid siren tests, blackout drills, and mass casualty simulations) were standard protocol throughout the Cold War era and following heightened border tensions.
• Disaster Management: The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), alongside State Disaster Response Forces (SDRF) and civil authorities, regularly conducts multi-state mock exercises for natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, floods) and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) emergencies.
• Military & Joint Preparedness: The Indian Armed Forces frequently run joint military combat exercises and mock war games (such as Exercise Brazen Chariots, Gagan Shakti, and Yudh Abhyas) to test operational readiness, cross-agency coordination, and air defence protocols.”

India’s National Disaster Response Force’s Battalions of course go through rigorous training programmes and refresher courses. Drone technology and other AI apps are making a splash on disaster mitigation protocols too. But it will be sometime before an AI powered jetpack can deliver screened blood supply to a critically injured earthquake survivor. Till that time it is essential to conform to earthquake safe construction code without recourse to corruption.

So much for Smart City governance. A smart city governor is one who is incorruptible.