Rohtang shut, flights to tribal areas soon

Tribune News Service
Shimla, November 15

The state government will provide VSAT and satellite phones to all subdivisional and district headquarters to tackle emergency situations in winter months.

This was stated by Chief Secretary BK Agarwal during a videoconference with all DCs on Thursday to review preparations for the winter season and the visit of a Central Government team to assess losses incurred by the state in the monsoon.

He said since the Rohtang Pass had been closed, the state government would soon arrange flights to the tribal areas to facilitate people.

He directed district-level committees to hold meetings with the departments concerned this month to make preparations as per the snow manual and disaster management guidelines.

The Chief Secretary directed the DCs to take measures to prevent fire incidents and conduct mock drills at the subdivision level.

He asked the BSNL to strengthen its communication system, especially in tribal and far-flung areas, so that any untoward incident could be reported to the authorities in time.

He said gram panchayats should be involved to issue an advisory to people during adverse weather conditions. The Chief secretary said the DGP should hold a meeting with police officials to chalk out a strategy for rescue and relief measures and better communication network.

The Chief Secretary said a team of the Centre was stated to visit the state on November 26 and 27 to assess damages due to cloudbursts, flashfloods and landslides during the monsoon season. The team would visit Kullu, Lahaul-Spiti, Kangra and Chamba districts.

Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue, Manisha Nanda directed the DCs to identify places where roads and IPH schemes were damaged.

The DCs informed the Chief Secretary that there was no scarcity of essential commodities in their districts and all arrangements had already been made.