Operation Shield mock drill: After a brief delay, Chandigarh’s mock drill has now been rescheduled to Saturday, May 31. It was originally planned for May 29.
As part of the Operation Shield mock drill, blackouts would be observed in Kishangarh and IT Park, stated the official release.
Chandigarh blackout timings
Chandigarh’s Kishangarh and IT Park will experience a blackout of 10 minutes, from 8pm to 8:10 pm.
- The exercise is likely to help improve coordination, test emergency response systems, and ensure Chandigarh is better prepared for any emergency or threat in the future.
Mock drills postponed in Rajasthan, Gujarat bordering states
Apart from Chandigarh, mock drills and blackout exercises as part of ‘Operation Shield’ were also postponed in Rajasthan, Gujarat and other bordering states. The new dates for these states is yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government has proposed June 3 as the date for carrying out a civil defence exercise.
Mock drills on May 7
On May 7, as per the instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs, a civil defence exercise (Civil Defence Mock Drill) was conducted nationwide to check and evaluate the security arrangements of the citizens living in sensitive areas of the country.
May 7 was the same date that India carried out Operation Sindoor — it’s retaliatory attack — to avenge Pakistan’s deadly assault in Pahalgam on April 22 – which killed 26 people, majorly tourists. The nationwide mock drills took place hours after Operation Sindoor.
Previous blackouts
Following Operation Sindoor, and the subsequent rise in tensions between India and Pakistan, complete blackouts were ordered in multiple Indian regions, including Chandigarh, Gujarat, Punjab among others.