Gandhinagar: Following a Union ministry of home affairs directive, the state govt will organise 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 for half an hour has been ordered between 7.30pm and 8pm during which people have been refrained from moving outdoors.The drills are being held in view of growing tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack. Speaking to reporters, minister of state for home, Harsh Sanghavi urged all citizens to ensure that all directions issued by the state govt about the drills are to be adhered to. “Sirens will be sounded at all vital installations of the state at 4.30pm. A complete blackout will be observed from 7.30pm to 8pm on Wednesday,” he said.He said that the drill will be conducted in 18 districts, including Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Vadodara, Bharuch (Ankleshwar), Tapi (Kakrapar), Surat, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka (Okha, Vadinar), Kutch-East (Gandhidham), Kutch-West (Bhuj, Naliya), as well as Patan, Banaskantha, Gir Somnath, and Morbi.Sanghavi said that during the blackout, citizens must ensure that no light is 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 is visible from the outside,” Sanghavi said.He urged people not to panic as it is just a drill, but said all directives issued by the administration must be followed as citizens should have complete knowledge of their responsibilities in case of 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 drills’ schedule across various districts. Additional chief secretary (ACS) home Manoj Das; ACS, revenue Jayanti Ravi; DGP Vikas Sahay, and DGP, home guards and civil defence, Manoj Agarwal were present, among others, at the meetings. According to a home ministry communique, the measures to be taken during the drills include operationalisation of air-raid warning sirens, training 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.