Last Friday, 1 August 2025, Delhi woke up to sirens and emergency messages on phones. The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) circular had already sent a notice:
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| Mock victims on Metro floor |
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| Simulated injury loaded in ambulance |
This was no panic button. It was part of a larger plan called Exercise Suraksha Chakra. A massive mock drill ran at 55 locations across all 11 districts of Delhi, in sync with parts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Residents watched ambulances, fire vehicles, police vans and even army trucks criss‑cross the city streets.
Teams from the National Disaster Management Authority, Delhi DDMA, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana SDMAs, NDRF, Indian Army, Delhi Police, fire services, health, transport, metro staff, civil defence and RWAs took part. They tested systems, coordination and response under pressure.
Teams from the National Disaster Management Authority, Delhi DDMA, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana SDMAs, NDRF, Indian Army, Delhi Police, fire services, health, transport, metro staff, civil defence and RWAs took part. They tested systems, coordination and response under pressure.
Meanwhile, I was intermittently monitoring the communication signals at my shack. I grabbed my handheld gear every now and then and tuned into the Ham radio channels keeping the drill in rhythm below.
The exercise started with a fake 6.8 magnitude quake at 9:03 am. That was only the opening act. Soon, mock chemical leaks were staged at industrial sites, metro stations, bus depots, even in some markets. At Ramesh Nagar Metro Station, staff and volunteers evacuated commuters, haz‑mat (Hazardous Materials Response Team) teams sealed off the hazardous zone, and paramedics rushed in to treat simulated victims.
While all this drama was unfolding, another hero quietly took charge: the Ham radio
community. Five VHF amateur radio stations were activated at key locations: near hospitals, markets, residential clusters and at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium close to India Gate. These licensed operators simulated emergency transmissions to ensure that even if mobile networks failed, communications would not.
A few calls that you could almost hear in real time:
“Maharaja Agrasen Hospital, Sec 22 Rohini: building collapsed, fire, casualties expected… any station acknowledge?”
“Shastri Park: gas cylinder burst, two dead, nine injured… relief services needed fast!”
“IOCL Shahbad Mw Pur site: 30 persons trapped under debris, rescue teams on site…”
“Chlorine gas leak at Indraprastha Metro, situation critical: all stations remain alert.”
These were not rehearsed lines. They were sharp messages under test conditions. The hams handled high message traffic with grace. Their calm voices cut through chaos. They proved that when voice fails, radio prevails.
The brightest moment of the day came courtesy of the VU2DLR repeater, now housed atop the World Trade Tower (WTT) in Noida. At a height equivalent to a 45 storey building, it gave
Delhi‑NCR hams the reach they always dreamed of. Stations in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad easily triggered it using handheld radios, something thought impossible when it used to be under Vigyan Prasar Bharati.
This repeater, running on 145.60 MHz with a Motorola rig and a Diamond antenna, kept the network alive for hours. Traffic was heavy, yet stable. The Ham community was ecstatic. Many whispered, “Our repeater has come back stronger.”
The exercise started with a fake 6.8 magnitude quake at 9:03 am. That was only the opening act. Soon, mock chemical leaks were staged at industrial sites, metro stations, bus depots, even in some markets. At Ramesh Nagar Metro Station, staff and volunteers evacuated commuters, haz‑mat (Hazardous Materials Response Team) teams sealed off the hazardous zone, and paramedics rushed in to treat simulated victims.
While all this drama was unfolding, another hero quietly took charge: the Ham radio
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| Radio Drill Action |
A few calls that you could almost hear in real time:
“Maharaja Agrasen Hospital, Sec 22 Rohini: building collapsed, fire, casualties expected… any station acknowledge?”
“Shastri Park: gas cylinder burst, two dead, nine injured… relief services needed fast!”
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| Ham-Station crew |
“Chlorine gas leak at Indraprastha Metro, situation critical: all stations remain alert.”
These were not rehearsed lines. They were sharp messages under test conditions. The hams handled high message traffic with grace. Their calm voices cut through chaos. They proved that when voice fails, radio prevails.
The brightest moment of the day came courtesy of the VU2DLR repeater, now housed atop the World Trade Tower (WTT) in Noida. At a height equivalent to a 45 storey building, it gave
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| VU2DLR repeater on WTT mock-up |
This repeater, running on 145.60 MHz with a Motorola rig and a Diamond antenna, kept the network alive for hours. Traffic was heavy, yet stable. The Ham community was ecstatic. Many whispered, “Our repeater has come back stronger.”
What did this day teach us? First, clear communication is life’s
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| Ham SUV Antenna |
backbone in a crisis. Second, quick coordination beats chaos. Static drills bring real learning. And third, when all else fails, a well-pointed little handheld radio can be the real hero.
In the end, this mock drill was more than just noise and sirens. It was Delhi’s way of saying: We will not be surprised. We will be prepared. A big salute to everyone who ran drills, wore gloves, spun antennae or just played their part in keeping tomorrow safer, sometimes rescue is just a frequency away.
Few more images from the event:
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| Ambulances and rescue teams near IOSL |
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| Civil Defence volunteers pose for snapshot |
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| VHF transceiver inside event SUV |
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| SUV with mag-mount antenna plus Ham duo |
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| Banner: Suraksha Chakra organisers |
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| Relief ham station at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium |
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| Ham team at IOSL site |
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| Delhi women police officers coordinating response |
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| Fire brigade trucks park at the IOSL staging ground while rescue teams work alongside volunteers to coordinate aid and brief civilians |
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On the left: from a rescue SUV, you see a Ham operator transmitting updates and taking notes into the field. On the right, the same operator and a fellow Ham beam a big smile for a selfie break between drills |
❤️
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