Joint winter control room in every Kashmir district

Tribune News Service

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Jammu, October 8

With the announcement of shifting of Civil Secretariat — the seat of governance —and other offices to Jammu as a part of bi-annual Durbar Move exercise, the state administration today asked all the Deputy Commissioners and departments concerned to establish round-the-clock joint winter control room in every district of the Kashmir division.

Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan gave these directions while reviewing winter preparedness in all districts of the division.

Officials were informed in the meeting that nodal officers from the Mechanical Engineering Department (MED) and other departments concerned would be deployed in these control rooms to provide quick and real time services to the people during erratic weather conditions across the Valley.

It was informed that the Mechanical Engineering Department has kept 154 snow-clearance machines besides the Buildings and Roads Department, BEACON and RAMKY had stationed adequate number of machines across the Kashmir division.

The Divisional Commissioner directed the engineers concerned to prepare duty roaster and asked them to keep all machines in the state of readiness to meet any eventuality.

The Chief Engineers of the PDD and PHE would keep their men and machinery in the state of readiness to ensure immediate restoration of electricity and water supply besides backup arrangements when the need arose. Besides, the PDD would start branch cutting along HT lines and complete the process within a fortnight, the meeting was told.

It was given out that the Commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, would ensure that inner roads, lanes and bylanes were cleared of snow immediately and press into service mobile dewatering pumps in the low-lying areas to prevent them from getting inundated.

He would also ensure that the de-silting of drains was carried out on a war-footing to prevent waterlogging.

Khan asked the DCs concerned to deploy disaster management teams on the national highway, far flung and avalanche-prone areas before October 25.

“The Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Baramulla and Ganderbal, will ensure that road connectivity to tourist destinations of Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Sonamarg is not snapped during snowfall,” the meeting was told.