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 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 May 29, is hereby postponed due to administrative reasons. There will be no blackout or drill tomorrow."