The government in “sensitive” Bengal will conduct a large-scale emergency preparedness mock drill across 17 districts starting Wednesday.

The week-long drill, involving multiple departments, is being organised after the Centre directed all states to assess their readiness to handle emergencies.

This is the first such large-scale exercise in Bengal since the 1971 India-Pakistan war, according to senior officials.

Departments, including fire and emergency services, civil defence and disaster management, health and home, will participate in the coordinated drills at over 30 “strategic points” across the 17 districts.

“The details of the mock drill will be sent to the districts by Tuesday evening.... The Centre has identified the categorised districts and the state will now decide on the strategic locations where the exercise will be held. More than 30 strategic locations have been identified for the drill so far,” said a senior state official.

During a video conference held by Union home secretary Govind Mohan, the state was briefed on the steps required to be followed. Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant, home secretary Nandini Chakraborty and civil defence secretary Rajesh Sinha attended the meeting.

“In the prevailing situation, the state has been described as sensitive by the Centre.... The state has been asked to assess the preparedness to deal with any emergency and also check the coordination between the departments that deal with crisis,” said a senior government official, adding that common people would not be involved initially.

Asked what kind of exercise would be conducted during the civil defence mock drill in Bengal, a bureaucrat said evacuation during a fire or a building collapse. The drill will also assess how fast the fire tenders are pressed into service during a fire or how quickly the injured are shifted to hospitals during a crisis.

Sirens installed in various parts of the state must be kept ready so that people can be alerted during an air strike.

“There are 95 sirens in Calcutta and about 20-25 sirens in each district. These sirens would be checked to ascertain if they are functional. Primary reports suggest that a majority of the sirens, mostly in Calcutta, were widely used during World War II when Japanese aircraft dropped bombs in the city. However, they were not used after the 1971 war and are not in working condition,” said an official.

He added that in the aftermath of Cyclone Aila’s devastation, the state government installed over 300 sirens in 2012 in the disaster-prone parts of Bengal.

The official said that Kolkata Police had issued an urgent message across police stations to collect information about the existing sirens in their jurisdictions.

A list of sirens has to be collated for repair for use during the mock drills, a senior officer at the police headquarters said on Tuesday. Sources said the use of sirens in the city and district headquarters was discussed at length at the meeting convened by the Union home secretary.

The state was also asked to keep satellite phones ready so that the communication system does not collapse under any circumstances.

“The state has 60-odd satellite phones, which are used during emergencies such as cyclones and other natural calamities, and all are functional,” said a source.

A senior official said that the existing control room of the disaster management department at Nabanna would act as the main contact point with the air force. The air force will send messages to the control room to alert it in case of a possible air strike, and it would be passed down to similar facilities in the districts.

Though 17 districts have been shortlisted for the mock drill, senior government officials were surprised to find border districts such as North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas and Nadia not included.

“These districts share borders with Bangladesh and they have a large population. These districts are very sensitive, given that they are close to Calcutta and the present situation in Bangladesh...,” said a senior state official.

Additional reporting by Kinsuk Basu and Monalisa Chaudhuri