Improved flood, disaster mgmt plan for district

Tribune News Service

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Srinagar, February 23

The Srinagar administration, which was devastated by a deluge in 2014, has priorit-ised the preparedness and responses to floods in its latest disaster management plan.

The 88-page plan mainly focuses on preparedness and responses to flood, which it assesses as high risk in intensity and impact in neighbourhoods of the district.

At least 37 spots that are prone to floods have been identified. The neighbourhoods include residential localities of Jawahar Nagar, Bemina, Qamarwari, Shivpora and commercial areas of Batamaloo, Karan Nagar, Maisuma and Lal Chowk.

“During the 2014 September floods, as many as 93,369 structures suffered huge damages and 40 persons lost their lives. Of total 137 villages, 87 were directly affected, which involved 2.10 lakh families in the district,” the plan read.

Srinagar district is prone to nine types of low and high-risk natural disasters, including earthquakes, floods, snow avalanches in mountainous areas, cloudburst, windstorms and lightening.

The latest plan attempts to institutionalise the preparations and response to future floods by tasking the District Coordination Committee to monitor and handle the situation. The DC will be its convenor and Superintending Engineer, Hydraulics, Srinagar, will be member secretary.

“The committee shall have its control room in the DC office, Srinagar, and all relief and rescue operations will be coordinated from there. It will remain operational round the clock during floods,” it read.

The district will be divided into five zones to be supervised by zonal committees located at Nowgam, Rambagh, Shalteng, Pantha Chowk and Nehru Park.

The plan also lists the assignments for various officials, which are to be followed prior to the issuance of flood alert and also after it is issued.

Once the alert is sounded, the plan tasks the Flood Control Department to close the gates of flood channel, strengthen weak spots and banks, close breaches and record gauge readings on hourly basis. The administrative wing of the district has also been tasked to arrange relief and rescue, including procurement of boats, identification and establishment of community centres, distribution of relief and medical aid, maintenance of law and order.

Norms have been set for information and media officers, directing them “not (to) mention weaknesses” and also “be careful of what you say in the presence of journalists”.