BENGALURU: A 105-minute mock drill to assess the preparedness of the railways and various agencies to handle an emergency situation involving explosives was held at the Yesvantpur railway station on Wednesday morning. A scenario involving bombs abandoned inside a suitcase inside a train and the immediate steps that need to be taken to defuse them was enacted near Platform Six (Tumakuru Road entry) of the station.
The drill commenced at 11.30 am and lasted upto 1.15 pm at the yard near the parcel office. Nearly 100 individuals representing various security agencies were present in this isolated spot in which a single bogey was used on the tracks to represent a train.
According to railway sources, the Centre for Counter Terrorism and the Internal Security Division of Karnataka carried out the exercise with the support of the Railway Protection Force, Government Railway Police and the Safety Division of the Bengaluru Railway Division. Sniffer dogs were also involved in the exercise.
"The sniffing of the explosives, the steps to be taken to dismantle it from exploding using the right kind of equipment, the right manner to dispose of the defused bombs and the steps to be taken to maintain calm among passengers were all depicted during the drill. It was a big learning experience for all of us," said another railway source. DRM, Bengaluru Division, Shyam Singh said the mock exercise carried out on Wednesday morning was completed successfully.
Another mock drill was carried out at Yesvantpur on September 30 last year involving the National Disaster Response Force in which a 'derailment' of two capsized bogies was enacted.