The Gautam Budh Nagar administration has begun emergency preparedness measures to ensure public safety and prevent panic as Pakistan stepped up hostilities along the border with India, district administration officials said on Friday.
A high-level coordination meeting was held by district magistrate (DM) Manish Kumar Verma on Friday with senior officials from police, administration, security agencies, health, fire, and electricity departments, as well as representatives from resident welfare associations (RWA) and industrial bodies.
The DM has called for seamless inter-departmental coordination and has specifically warned against forwarding or reacting to unverified or misleading messages circulating on social media.
“In times of potential emergency, we must not give in to fear or misinformation. Only verified information from official sources should be trusted. If any information is received, it must be verified through the proper channel. Only the district administration is authorised to issue directives regarding blackouts, school closures or other measures,” the DM said on Friday.
Additional district magistrate (finance and revenue), Atul Kumar, was directed to establish a control room and issue a toll-free number to assist the public in verifying information. The district inspector of schools (DIOS), Dharamveer Singh, has also been instructed to alert school principals to advise parents against acting on rumours.
Joint police commissioner Rajeev Narayan Mishra addressed RWA members, recommending technical adjustments in high-rises so that elevators remain operational during blackouts, preventing people from getting trapped. Residents were urged to report any suspicious objects or persons to the nearest police station immediately.
“RWAs must ensure elevator power connections are isolated from the general supply so that they function during a blackout. We urge residents not to record or circulate videos of security force movements on social media. Guidelines for dos and don’ts during emergencies will be released soon by the central and local authorities,” Mishra added.
Various departments, including health, NDRF (National Disaster Response Force), CISF (Central Industrial Security Force), CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force), fire, and electricity presented their preparedness reports during the meeting. The DM also said that anyone spreading misinformation on WhatsApp groups or other social media platforms would face strict legal action.
Among the officials present in the meeting were CDO Vidyanath Shukla, DCP central Shakti Mohan Awasthi, city magistrate Vivekanand Mishra, and officials from CRPF, CISF, ITBP, and RWAs.