Poonch Civil Defence Mock Drill Cancelled Day of Exercise; Border Town Spooked Two Days Before Pahalgam Anniversary

A five-day civil defence mock drill in the border district of Poonch, Jammu & Kashmir — scheduled to begin April 20, 2026 — was abruptly cancelled on the day it was due to start, without full public explanation. The exercise had been designed to simulate air raid scenarios, including sirens, blackout protocols, and coordinated civilian evacuation, to test emergency response readiness across the district's border villages. The unexpected cancellation sparked public alarm in Poonch, where memories of May 2025 remain vivid: during Operation Sindoor, Pakistani retaliatory shelling struck border areas including Poonch, and residents had briefly evacuated. The District Commissioner's office issued a brief statement urging citizens there was 'no cause for alarm.' The episode underscored the ambient tension pervading J&K's border belt two days before the first anniversary of the Pahalgam tourist massacre (April 22, 2025), which killed 26 civilians and triggered India's most significant military confrontation with Pakistan since 1971. The cancellation drew comparisons on social media to civil defence preparations conducted before Operation Sindoor — a reminder that in Poonch and other border districts, the distinction between drill and genuine alert carries visceral weight.