The Civil Defence Act, 1968

(1) This Act may be called the Civil Defence Act, 1968. (2) It extends1to the whole of India. (3) It shall come into force in a State or part thereof on such date2, not being a date earlier than thedate of the expiry of the Defence of India Act, 1962 (51 of 1962), as the Central Government may, bynotification, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different States or different parts thereof.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, (a) "civil defence" includes any measures, not amounting to actual combat, for affordingprotection to any person, property, place or thing in India or any part of the territory thereof againstany hostile attack, whether from air, land, sea or other places, or, for depriving any such attackof the whole or part of its effect, whether such measures are taken before, during, at or after the timeof such attack2[or any measure taken for the purpose of disaster management, before, during, at, orafter any disaster]; (b) "Civil Defence" Corps means the Corps formed wholly or mainly to meet the needs of civildefence and includes an organisation deemed to be a Corps under the proviso to sub-section (1) ofsection 4; (c) "hostile attack" means any attack by any person or body of persons, whether during any war,external aggression, internal disturbance or otherwise which endangers the security of any life,property, place or thing in India or any part of the territory thereof; (d)"notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette; (e) "personal service injury" has the meaning assigned to it in the Personal Injuries (EmergencyProvisions) Act, 1962 (59 of 1962); (f) "State Government", in relation to a Union territory, means the Administrator of the Unionterritory; 1[(g) "disaster" means a disaster as defined in clause (d) of section 2 of the Disaster ManagementAct, 2005(53 of 2005); (h) "disaster management" means the disaster management as defined in clause (e) of section 2 ofthe Disaster Management Act, 2005(53 of 2005).]

(1) The Central Government may, for securing civildefence, by notification, make rules providing for all or any of the following matters, namely: (a) preventing the prosecution of any work likely to prejudice civil defence; (b) instruction of members of the public regarding civil defence and their equipment for thepurposes of such defence; (c) provision, storage and maintenance of commodities and things required for civil defence; (d) prohibiting or regulating traffic, and the use of vessels, buoys, lights and signals in ports andterritorial, tidal and inland waters; (e) control of lights and sounds; (f) protection of life and property by taking fire prevention and other measures; (g) securing of any buildings, premises or other structures from being readily recognisable in theevent of a hostile attack; (h) for the prevention of danger to life or property, the demolition, destruction or renderinguseless, of any building, premises or other structures or any other property; (i) prohibiting or regulating the possession, use or disposal of (i) explosives, inflammable substances, corrosive and other dangerous substances or articles,arms and ammunition; (ii) vessels; (iii) wireless telegraphic apparatus; (iv) aircraft; and (v) photographic and signalling apparatus and any means of recording information; (j) evacuation of areas and the removal of property or animals therefrom; (k) accommodation in any area of persons evacuated from another area and the regulation of theconduct of evacuated persons accommodated in such area; (l) billeting of evacuated person or persons authorised to perform functions under this Act; (m) salvage of damaged buildings, structures and property and disposal of the dead; (n) seizure and custody or destruction of injured, unclaimed or dangerous animals; (o) ensuring the safety of (i) ports, dockyards, lighthouses, lightships, aerodromes and facilities associated with aerialnavigation; (ii) railways, tramways, roads, bridges, canals and all other means of transport by land orwater; (iii) telegraphs, post offices, signalling apparatus and all other means of communication; (iv) sources and systems of water supply, works for the supply of water, gas or electricity andall other works for public purposes; (v) vessels, aircraft, transport vehicles as defined in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939(4 of 1939), and rolling stocks of railways and tramways; (vi) warehouses and all other places used or intended to be used for storage purposes; (vii) mines, oilfields, factories or industrial or commercial undertakings generally, or anymine, oilfield, factory or industrial or commercial undertaking in particular; (viii) laboratories and institutions where scientific or technological research or training isconducted or imparted; (ix) all works and structures being part of, or connected with, anything earlier mentioned inthis clause; and (x) any other place or thing used or intended to be used for the purposes of Government or alocal authority or a semi-Government or autonomous organisation, the protection of which isconsidered necessary or expedient for securing civil defence; (p) control of any road or pathway, waterway, ferry or bridge, river, canal or other source ofwater supply; (q) precautionary measures, which the Government or any department thereof or any localauthority, members of police force, fire brigade and members of any other service or authorityemployed primarily for purposes other than civil defence purposes should be required to take withintheir respective jurisdictions or with respect to any personnel employed by them; (r) preventing or controlling any use of uniforms, whether official or otherwise, or flags orofficial decorations like medals, badges or other insignia or anything similar thereto, the wearing ofwhich is calculated to deceive or to prejudice civil defence; (s) precautions to be taken or action to be taken by persons or authorities with a view toprotecting or acquainting the general public or any members thereof against the dangers involved inany apprehended hostile attack; (t) requiring the owner or occupier of any building, structure or premises to make or carry outsuch arrangements as may be necessary for the purposes of detection and prevention of fire; (u) taking of specified measures for dealing with outbreaks of fire; (v) directing that, subject to any specified exemption, no person present in any specified areashall, between such hours as may be specified, be out of doors except under the authority of a writtenpermit granted by a specified authority or person; (w) (i) prohibiting the printing and publication of any newspaper, news-sheet, book or otherdocument containing matters prejudicial to civil defence; (ii) demanding security from any press used for the purpose of printing or publishing, andforfeiting the copies of, any newspaper, news-sheet, book or other document containing any of thematters referred to in sub-clause (i); (x) regulating the conduct of persons in respect of areas the control of which is considerednecessary or expedient, and removal of persons from such areas; (y) requiring any person or class of persons to comply with any scheme of civil defence; (z) any other provision which may be necessary for the purposes of civil defence. (2) Any rule made under sub-section (1) may provide that orders with regard to the matters specifiedtherein may be made by the State Government. 4(3) Any rule made under sub-section (1) may provide that a contravention thereof or any order madethereunder shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, and where thecontravention is a continuing one, with a further fine which may extend to fifty rupees for every day, afterthe first, during which such contravention continues.

(1) The State Government may constitute, for any areawithin the State, a body of persons to be called the Civil Defence Corps (hereinafter referred to as the"Corps") and may appoint a person, not being, in its opinion, below the rank of a District Magistrate (tobe known as the "Controller") to command such Corps: Provided that if there is in existence in any area in a State, immediately before the commencement ofthis Act in that area, an organisation which, in the opinion of the State Government, may be entrustedwith the functions of the Corps, the State Government may, instead of constituting a separate Corps forsuch area, call upon that organisation to take over or discharge the functions of the Corps in that area, andthereupon such organisation shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be the Corps for that area. (2) The State Government may, for the purpose of co-ordinating the activities of the Controllerswithin the State, appoint a Director of Civil Defence and every Controller shall comply with thedirections given by such Director.

(1) The State Government may appoint as members ofthe Corps persons who are fit and willing to serve as such and the Controller may appoint any member soappointed to such office or command in the Corps, as such member is, in the opinion of the Controller, fitto hold. (2) Every person appointed to be a member of the Corps shall be given a certificate of membership insuch form as may be prescribed.