- It will be held at Vadodara, Surat, Tapi, Patan, Banaskantha, Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Morbi, Gir Somnath, Mehsana, Narmada, Navsari, Dang, Kutch, Bharuch, Gandhinagar and Bhavnagar
- Between 7.30 pm and 8 pm, there will be a blackout mock drill in these 18 districts
- I urge people to switch off the lights of their residence or office for half an hour: Harsh Sanghavi
NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, MAY 6
Civil defence mock drills and blackouts will be conducted in 18 districts of Gujarat on May 7 as part of a nationwide preparedness exercise to assess the country’s readiness for any hostile attacks, officials said.
While mock drills will be held at vital installations in each of these 18 districts at 4 pm, citizens will participate in ‘blackout’ mock drills by switching off lights between 7.30 pm and 8 pm, Gujarat’s Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi said.
Amid growing tension between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued directives to states to conduct full-scale civil defence mock drills on Wednesday.
In Gujarat, mock drills will be held at Vadodara, Surat, Tapi, Patan, Banaskantha, Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Morbi, Gir Somnath, Mehsana, Narmada, Navsari, Dang, Kutch, Bharuch, Gandhinagar and Bhavnagar, he said.
Sanghavi on Tuesday chaired a meeting with senior officials to review the proposed action plan prepared by the authorities to conduct mock drills in different parts of Gujarat, an official release said.
To review the mock drill action plan, the minister held an important meeting in Gandhinagar with key officials, including Additional Chief Secretary (Home) M K Das, Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Jayanti Ravi, state Director General of Police (DGP) Vikas Sahay and Director General of Civil Defence Manoj Agarwal, the release said.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Sanghavi clarified that power supply will not be snapped in these districts during the blackout exercise.
“Authorities will select any two-three vital installations in each of these 18 districts and conduct a surprise mock drill on their premises to check the preparedness as per civil defence guidelines and make people aware on how to react in real emergency situations,” he told reporters in Gandhinagar.
Even sarpanchs of villages in these districts are roped in for this exercise, he said.
Sanghavi added that apart from government officials, nearly 10,000 civil defence volunteers will help the authorities in implementing mock drills and blackouts.
“Between 7.30 pm and 8 pm, there will be a blackout mock drill in these 18 districts. I urge people to switch off the lights of their residence or office for half an hour. You can cover the windows to block the lights coming out. It is also advisable that you do not venture out during this period,” Sanghavi said.
He urged people to cooperate and make this exercise a success.
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