Drills to be held across state on Wednesday

Gandhinagar: Following a directive from the Union home ministry, the state govt will hold civil defence drills in 18 districts of the state on Wednesday. While sirens will be sounded at 4.30pm at all vital installations in the state, a complete blackout has been directed for half an hour between 7.30pm and 8pm.The drills are being held in view of growing tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack.Minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi urged all citizens to ensure that all directions from the state govt are adhered to during the drills. "Sirens will be sounded at all vital installations at 4.30pm. A complete blackout will be observed from 7.30pm to 8pm on Wednesday," he said.Sanghavi said that during the blackout, citizens must ensure that no light can be seen from their homes, offices or other establishments. "People can keep their lights switched on only if curtains are drawn in such a manner that no light should be visible from outside," Sanghavi said.He urged people not to panic as this will be a drill, but all directives issued by the administration must be followed, as citizens should have complete knowledge regarding their responsibilities during an actual event. "The civil defence and revenue departments have created a set of guidelines which citizens will have to follow during the blackout. People should refrain from moving outdoors during the half hour between 7.30pm and 8pm," he said.Earlier in the day, Sanghavi chaired meetings with top officials of the home department and with district administration officials to chalk out the civil defence drill schedule for various districts. ACS home Manoj Das, ACS revenue Jayanti Ravi, DGP Vikas Sahay and DGP (home guards and civil defence) Manoj Agarwal were present, among others.According to a home ministry communication, measures to be taken during the drills include the operationalization of air-raid warning sirens, training of civilians on civil-defence aspects to protect themselves in the event of a "hostile attack" and cleaning bunkers and trenches. Provisions for crash-blackout measures and rehearsing evacuation plans are some other measures.