Arrangements put in place to deal with fresh snow

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 15

After earning the wrath of the residents over delay in restoring electricity, water and road connectivity following a snowfall, the district administration and the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) today started spraying a mix of salt and stone dust to melt the slippery icy layer on roads that has sent over 110 victims to hospitals.

It has also put in place a coordinated strategy to deal with another spell of snowfall predicted by the local Met office in the capital city and other places in the state.

Barring few pockets in the city, most of the areas in 34 wards got a breather from week-long water and electricity crisis as the HPSEBL and the SMC restored power and water in the city by working round-the-clock in extreme cold conditions with minimum and maximum temperatures plummeting to sub-zero level for days together.

Even HPSEBL and SMC staff were spotted working throughout the night till late in the morning, clearing snow on the city roads and restoring the snapped lines and fallen poles.

Villagers from Shimla, Mandi, Kullu and Chamba helped the HPSEBL staff in restoring snapped lines.

Meanwhile, Rohan Chand Thakur, Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, today presided over a combined meeting of the SMC and the district administration. “We are spraying a mix salt and stone dust that helps in melting the slippery icy surface of the snow-covered path or link roads,” he said.

He said the Shimla city had been divided into five sectors with each sector being manned by a nodal officer. “JCB machines and staff have been deployed on key locations for prompt action to clear the main roads in the city for the movement of emergency services,” he added.

Thakur said they had stocked enough supplies of essential commodities, including milk, ration, LPG, in the district as the main roads leading to the tehsil headquarters had been restored.

HPSEBL Managing Director PC Negi claimed that they had restored electricity in 90 per cent of snow-bound areas and the work was under way in rest of the remote areas.

Mayor Sanjay Chauhan said they were providing water to most of the city as they were getting about 28 MLD to 30 MLD water from the Giri and Guma schemes. “We will resume pumping of water from the Koti-Barandi and Churat schemes after they get test reports from the National Institute of Virology, Pune,” he added.

Deputy Mayor Tikender Panwar said the SMC staff was plugging the water leakage in the Giri scheme, which was detected today. Electricity was restored in most parts of Chopal, Jubbal, Kotkhai, Rohru, Rampur and Theog yesterday. The HRTC resumed bus services on these roads.

Shimla reeled under biting cold today. The tourists’ inflow declined as weather remained overcast. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 1.6 degree C, which improved over the last three days. Meanwhile, the government sounded an alert across the state after the Met warned of a fresh Western Disturbance and predicted snow or rain in the next 48 hours in most parts of the state. The weather would remain packed till January 20.