Civil defence exercise postponed in Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh; Punjab schedules it for June 3

New Delhi: After the government decided to carry out a civil defence exercise on Thursday in states and Union Territories adjoining the western border, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab on Wednesday postponed the scheduled mock drill.

The Haryana government on Wednesday evening said the civil defence exercise – Operation Shield – scheduled for Thursday stood postponed following the Union Home Ministry's directions.

"According to the instructions of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the Haryana Home Department announced the postponement of the comprehensive civil defence exercise, Operation Shield, which was scheduled to be conducted on Thursday," an official statement said.

All the deputy commissioners and other stakeholders have been informed about this, the statement said.

The Chandigarh administration also announced postponement of the civil defence exercise.

A statement issued by the UT administration on Wednesday evening said, "As per the directions received from the Government of India, it is hereby informed that the civil defence exercise Operation Shield, which was planned for May 29, is hereby postponed due to administrative reasons. There will be no blackout or mock drill tomorrow." Earlier in the day, the Haryana government issued a statement, which said a mock drill was scheduled to take place across all the 22 districts of the state between 5 pm and 9 pm on Thursday to strengthen emergency preparedness.

The mock drill has also been postponed in Rajasthan, where it was scheduled to be held across all the districts on Thursday, officials said.

According to an official statement, the civil defence exercise has been postponed due to administrative reasons and a new date will be announced soon.

Earlier, the civil defence department issued guidelines for conducting a blackout and mock drill in all the 41 districts of the state on Thursday evening.

The Punjab government, meanwhile, wrote to the Centre on Wednesday, proposing June 3 as the date for carrying out the mock drill, citing that their civil defence staff were undergoing training being conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

A senior Punjab Police officer said the Centre accepted the state government's request for holding the drill on June 3.

The deputy commissioners in Punjab have been told that the civil defence exercise will take place in all districts on June 3.

Earlier, the Directorate General of Fire Service and Home Guards conveyed that the civil defence exercise – Operation Shield – will be carried out in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Chandigarh. Responding to the April 22 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalagam in which 26 people were killed, Operation Sindoor was carried out by India on May 7 through which the defence forces targeted terror camps at nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Later, some Pakistani military bases were also targeted by India in retaliatory action during four days of skirmishes with the neighbouring country between May 7 and 10.

Pakistani forces resorted to heavy shelling along the border and LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and also tried to attack some other places along the International Border in the western sector with drones and missiles.

The Directorate, which comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs, said during the first civil defence exercise held on May 7, critical gaps in the civil defence preparedness of the vulnerable areas of the country were observed.

Instructions to take necessary actions to suitably address the issues were issued on May 9.

Accordingly, emergency powers were invoked and funding arrangements through the State Disaster Response Force were also made.

To augment the civil defence preparedness against any hostile attack, Operation Shield has been planned in all the districts of states and UTs adjoining the western border.

During the exercise, there will be activation of centrally controlled and operated air raid sirens, and complete blackout measures adjoining civilian areas among others, sources said.

According to the plan, during the mock drills, evacuation of the families of one of the military stations will be practised in case of drone attacks. The deployment of medical teams and the transportation of blood units, among others, will also be done, according to the plan.