Around 7.10 am, information reached metro officials that two terrorists had overpowered a station staff of the Park Street Metro station. This was followed by explosions caused by crackers. At 7.38 am, the power service was restored after the NDMA completed the mock drill operation. A similar operation was carried out in the Chandni Chowk station. “We have chosen Kolkata Metro for the exercise among 35 other vulnerable locations across the country,” said JK Sinha, member, NDMA.
“This was to see how the various agencies involved co-ordinate with each other in case of any emergency,” said Brigadier (Dr) BK Khanna, senior specialist NDMA. The drill was followed by a session where observers gave their feedback on the efficiency and promptness of the agencies involved. When asked to compare the response in Delhi and Kolkata, the officials said: “Delhi scores a notch higher in terms of security because the movement of trains could be completely controlled from the central control room unlike Kolkata. In case of any emergency, the control room in Delhi can immediately hit a button and halt the movements of all the trains. But we have to understand that Kolkata metro was built more than two decades ago and does not have a modern set up.” The NDMA will carry out a mock drill on floods in Gorakhpur on May 29.