Punjab govt to conduct civil defence drill on June 3

Chandigarh, May 28 (PTI) The Punjab government Wednesday wrote to the Centre, proposing June 3 as the date for carrying out a civil defence exercise, citing that their civil defence staff were undergoing a training being conducted by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

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

The government of India decided to carry out a civil defence exercise on Thursday in all districts of states and Union territories adjoining the western border -- from Jammu and Kashmir to Gujarat -- on how to face air raids from enemy aircraft, drones, missile attacks, among others.

In a communication 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.

The senior Punjab Police officer on Wednesday said that they took up the matter with the government of India after they received a message for carrying out the civil defence exercise on Thursday.

Punjab told the Centre that its civil defence staff have been sent for a "training being conducted by NDRF as per Centre's directions", the officer said.

"We told them (the Centre) that our best staff were already undergoing training," he said.

Then the state authorities proposed June 3 as the date for holding the drill, which the government of India accepted, said the officer.

Thereafter, deputy commissioners in Punjab were told that the civil defence exercise will take place in all districts on June 3.

On May 7, hours ahead of Operation Sindoor, the government had conducted the first civil defence exercise across the country.

The civil defence authorities requested the states and UTs to plan and organise the exercise at 1700 hours onwards on Thursday by involving all local administration and stakeholders, sources said.

During the second civil defence exercise, the "contingencies envisaged to be practised include general/silent recall of civil defence wardens/volunteers".

The Indian armed forces carried out pre-dawn missile strikes on May 7 on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. The targets included the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base in Muridke.

The operation was launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.

Following the Indian action, Pakistan launched an offensive against Indian military bases and resorted to shelling the border areas for the next three days. PTI CHS KVK KVK KVK