DC recounts Operation Sindoor, says border district stood resilent amid fear and uncertainity
ANIRUDH GUPTA
Ferozepur, May 1, 2026: Serving her first district as a young IAS officer, with two infant twins at home to look after, Deepshikha Sharma had no idea what she was going to land herself into after assuming charge of this border district as the Deputy Commissioner.
While narrating her experience of Operation Sindoor, Deepshikha, a 2015 Batch officer, recalled that as the war hysteria was building around, they started getting preliminary briefings during civil - military liaison meetings which started around the end of April.
"After two-three rounds of closed door sittings, I had a clear brief from the division headquarters about the immediate to-do list, and thus we began with the resource mapping of the district and preparing the necessary plans," said Deepshikha, adding though it looked terrifying sitting close to the border, she did not lose her nerves.
"From setting up communication systems, planning evacuation and relief, transport, medical and emergency response plans, we started working for something which seemed inevitable. Ours was the first district to go for the nation-wide black out " she said. “We got our sirens mapped and checked their serviceability before the actual mock drill took place for the first time. Immediately, thereafter we started getting a lot of calls from family and friends asking about our wellbeing", she added.
On the morning of May 6, she and the SSP visited the border villages to reassure the public, where the people displayed an extreme sense of resolute and inspirational determination. Anxiety was looming large, as we remained on high alert and the intervening night of May 9-10 became the tallest standing night in the district," she said.
Sharma said that from working in close coordination with the Army, executing the black out, the air attack alerts to the drone attacks on May 9, the entire district teams on the ground level displayed an absolute professionalism.
"Civil officers in the field are usually the unsung heroes but as they say not all heroes wear caps. From switching the entire grids off at a call, to restoring them within minutes in the middle of the night, the quick rushing of QRTs on the day of attack or ensuring basic communication, the dedication has been unmatchable", Sharma said.
"There was a lot of learning, off course. We shall be revamping the civil defence structure and also planning to make some critical infrastructure changes to be war resilient for the next 50 years," she said, adding that on a personal front, it was an unforgettable experience.
"I had to call my parents to take care of my twins as I was not able to devote time to them," she recalled. Initially, she thought of sending the family to some safer place, but being the head of the district, she deemed it as her moral responsibility to stay with all members of the family here itself even though the DC’s residence was one of the targets of Pakistani drone attacks.