Nagaland Emergency Preparedness Exercise, blackout drills on Apr 30

Nagaland is all set to conduct a statewide earthquake preparedness exercise—Nagaland Emergency Preparedness Exercise (NEPEx)—on April 30, along with a civil defence air raid and blackout drill codenamed “Operation Night Guard”.
The exercise, part of a nationwide initiative, is being organised by the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to strengthen disaster response and inter-agency coordination.
Addressing a media briefing at the Nagaland Civil Secretariat, NSDMA secretary Sentiwapang Aier said the drill would involve state departments, district administrations, emergency responders, uniformed forces and community stakeholders.
A table-top exercise would be held on April 29 at 10 a.m. at the State Emergency Operations Centre, Capital Convention Centre, Kohima, to review disaster management plans and coordination mechanisms.
A full-scale mock exercise would follow on April 30 from 8 a.m. to noon across all districts and selected sites, including search and rescue, evacuation, medical response and restoration of essential services.
Later that day, “Operation Night Guard” would begin at 6:30 p.m. in 10 districts — Dimapur, Kohima, Mokokchung, Wokha, Zunheboto, Mon, Phek, Tuensang, Peren and Kiphire. Sirens would be activated and blackout measures enforced to test alert systems, public response and coordination among agencies.
Officials urged residents to remain calm, cooperate with authorities and switch off non-essential lights, including inverters and outdoor lighting, when sirens sound. They stressed the drills were precautionary and not linked to any imminent threat.
Aier said the exercise was intended to improve preparedness and did not indicate any prediction of disaster.
NSDMA joint chief executive officer Johnny Raungmei said the scenario would simulate a magnitude 7.7 earthquake with an epicentre near Piphema, affecting multiple districts. Different departments would perform assigned roles, with participation also expected from community institutions, including churches.
He said communication gaps identified in previous drills were being addressed with additional systems, and casualty assessment would be a key focus.
Home Guards & Civil Defence (HG&CD) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) deputy commandant general Medozhalie Pienyü said the exercise would also simulate drone attacks in civil defence districts, triggering fires, structural collapses and civilian panic. He said the response would include firefighting, search and rescue, evacuation, temporary medical facilities and traffic control.
The drill aims to test air raid and blackout protocols, assess coordination and response time, validate the Incident Response System and identify gaps through post-exercise review, he said.