SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 10 (KNO) : In view of inclement weather, Chief Secretary B B Vyas today directed divisional administration of Kashmir to be in a state of preparedness and responsive to any crisis thrown up by the inclement weather.
Principal Secretary Home, DGP Police, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Division, DC Srinagar, Municipal Commissioner, Director SKIMS, Director Health, Principal GMC, Director Disaster Management, Director MET, Chief Engineer R&B, Chief Engineer PHE, Chief Engineer, MED, Superintend Engineer Irrigation and Flood Control and other concerned officials were present in the meeting. DCs of other districts attended the meeting via Video conferencing.
On the occasion, Chief Secretary directed all the Deputy Commissioners to gear up and deploy their men and machinery on the ground beforehand.
Chief Secretary directed that there should not be any delay in deploying men and machinery including snow clearance machines/drainage pumps etc as soon as snow/water starts to accumulate, so that people do not face any inconvenience. He directed positioning of snow clearance machines at critical spots beforehand so that snow is cleared in a minimum time.
During the meeting, it was informed that 18 control rooms have been setup across Kashmir Division to meet any eventuality. It was given out control rooms including 10 in South Kashmir, 5 in North Kashmir and 3 in Central Kashmir. Further, one provincial level control room has been set up which will keep track of every development across the region as far as the weather changes are concerned.
Chief Secretary was briefed that administration has deployed 141 machines across Kashmir for snow clearance from all major roads and established control rooms in each district which are functional round the clock. Chief Engineer Mechanical Engineering Department said that 141 snow clearance machines have been kept available which have been divided into three zones. He further said the three zones are in Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag. The places where sub-control rooms have been established include Gurez, Tangdar, Kupwara, Tangmarg, Khanabal, Dooru, Kokernag, Shangas, Pahalgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Budgam, Ganderbal and Bandipora.
Further, it was given out that SMC has geared up men and machinery including six sucker machines and dewatering pumps for water logged areas to tackle any situation arising out of the snowfall. Around 4,000 men have been kept read to ensure manual clearance of snow.
Divisional and District Administration was asked to ensure that people do not face any inconvenience on account of essentials services like supply of electricity, water and availability of ration, K oil and LPG and medicine.
With regard to the stock position of ration, LPG, petrol etc, the concerned officials said the department has dumped ration for three in months in 500 sales centers across the valley. Similarly, stock for 20 days of LPG cylinders is available with the Food Department, while Petrol for 15days, Diesel for 25 days is available.
With regard to power scenario, it informed that power department is supplying 1150 Mega-Watts of electricity across Kashmir Division. In case of emergency, task officer has been kept all critical places across Kashmir Division. Adequate number of buffer stock of transformers has been kept available and would be utilized to replace damaged transformers on priority basis.
The Meteorological department has issued weather advisory according to which a western disturbance is approaching J&K and adjoining areas due to which moderate to heavy snowfall is expected at most places in the State from December 11 to 13. “This system is likely to affect J&K from 9th December onwards and produce moderate to heavy snowfall on 11, 12 and 13 December,” the advisory said.(KNO)