New Delhi, 28 May

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 29 May, is hereby postponed due to administrative reasons. There will be no blackout or mockdrill 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 3 June.

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

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.