New Delhi: Mock drills under Centre's 'Operation Shield', which were scheduled to be held in several bordering states with Pakistan on Thursday, May 29, were postponed reportedly due to administrative reasons. The civil defence exercise aims to strengthen emergency preparedness amid tension with Pakistan.
On Wednesday evening, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and union territory Chandigarh postponed the drills. So far only the Punjab government announced the new date for the mock drills. In Punjab, the civil defence exercise will be held on June 3.
However, no date has been announced by the governments of Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Chandigarh administration has also not announced the new date.
"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," Haryana Home Department said in an official statement as quoted by PTI. In Haryana, the moch drill was scheduled to take place in 22 districts between 5 pm and 9 pm on Thursday.
The Chandigarh administration also issued a statement in this regard. "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," the UT administration said as quoted by Outlook.
The Rajasthan Government said that it would announce the new date soon. However, as of now, there is no announcement by the Jammu and Kashmir government regarding the change in the schedule of the civil defence exercise as of now.
Notably, These coordinated drills aim to test the readiness of the administration and civil population in the event of emergencies such as air strikes or bomb attacks by the hostile nation. Designed as full-scale simulations, the drills will assess the functionality of control rooms, air raid warning systems, and the efficiency of civil defence services, including warden duties, firefighting, rescue operations, depot management, and evacuation planning.
Earlier on May 6, mock drills were conducted across several cities of the nation just hours before Operation Sindoor.
