A large civil defence mock drill will be held on Thursday, May 29, in Indian states that share borders with Pakistan. These states include Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Jammu and Kashmir. The drill aims to prepare the public and government agencies for emergency situations and will be carried out under the guidance of the Directorate of Civil Defence, as reported by Hindustan Times.

According to the report, the Haryana government is also planning to carry out a major exercise called “Operation Shield”. It will be held across all 22 districts of the state, starting from 5 pm on the same day. The goal of this state-wide drill is to improve emergency planning and response.

This civil defence exercise comes just weeks after Operation Sindoor—India’s military operation against Pakistan that took place on the night of May 6 and 7. The operation was launched to respond to the Pahalgam terror attack, where 26 tourists were killed on April 22.

Before Operation Sindoor, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had already conducted another major mock drill called Operation Abhyas on May 7. This national-level drill was also aimed at preparing for war-like situations.

Operation Abhyas took place across 244 civil defence districts in many states and union territories. It also covered big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.

The mock drills included several activities to simulate real wartime situations. These included the use of air raid sirens to test public alert systems, blackout procedures where people had to switch off lights, evacuation drills to move civilians to safer areas, and training sessions on first aid and safety procedures.

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