DEHRADUN, Feb. 16 -- Uttarakhand forest department will conduct a statewide mock drill on February 18 to assess preparedness and response mechanisms ahead of the upcoming forest fire season, officials said on Friday. The exercise, earlier scheduled for February 13, has been rescheduled. Sushant Patnaik, chief conservator of forests and state nodal officer for forest fires, said the drill will be conducted across all forest divisions to evaluate preparedness at multiple levels. "We will conduct a statewide mock drill on February 18 to check our preparedness for forest fires. The exercise aims to test coordination among various departments, including the forest department, district administration, fire services, police, disaster management authorities and local response teams," he said, adding the drill will help identify gaps in communication systems, manpower deployment and equipment readiness during forest fire incidents. Officials said inputs gathered during the exercise will be used to strengthen response mechanisms before peak fire season.htc...