New Delhi, May 30 -- The civil defence drills earlier scheduled to be held across Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chandigarh and Jammu & Kashmir on Thursday, and then cancelled, will now be held on Saturday evening, according to an order by the Directorate General Fire Services, Civil Defence, and Home. First announced on Wednesday evening, the mock drill scheduled for Thursday was postponed after a late-night order by the directorate. The drill named Operation Shield will be conducted across all districts of states and Union territories adjoining the western border. Directorate General Fire Services, Civil Defence, and Home, is a federal agency under the home ministry. According to the directorate's letter to the chief secretary of the states and two UTs on Thursday, the agency has listed different training scenarios such as responding to air raids, drone attacks on military stations and complete blackouts. A senior officer in Gujarat, who asked not to be named, said,"The new order said we have to hold it at 5 pm on Saturday. We will be following the instruction and holding the drill." According to the letter sent to the chief secretaries, the directorate has said that "critical gaps were observed" during the first such drill on May 7 after which "emergency powers were invoked and funds were sent to the SDRF." The chief secretaries have directed to prepare for seven different scenarios: general/silent recall of civil defence volunteers along with volunteers such as National Cadet Corps; air raids by enemy aircraft, drones and missile attacks; activation of hotlines between air force and civil defence control rooms; complete blackout measures adjoining civilian areas; attack on a military station by enemy drones leading to the need to move families to a safer place; augmentation of medical facilities in case of mass injuries, and assistance of border wing home guards for the Army in case of an emergency. Pakistan sent thousands of militarised drones between May 8 and 11 targeting civilian areas and military installations in response to India's successful execution of Operation Sindoor. The drones were shot down by India's air defence systems. Officials aware of the development have said that holding drills is a regular process but this was limited in the past to district administrations and police preparing for only scenarios related to terror attacks, bomb blasts and hijacking situations. Post Operation Sindoor, the drills have been expanded to include emergencies in case of drone attacks and air raids....