In view of declining water availability in the wake of dry spell leading to drought like situation in the district, the District Development Commissioner, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary convened a meeting of officers and field staff of Public Health Engineering Department and discussed in detail the Drought Management Plan to deal with situation arising out of water crisis in the district.The meeting was attended by SE PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Mohd Rafiq Khan, Executive Enginner PHE Nisar Khan, AEEs, AEs and JEs of different PHE Sub-divisions, JE Ground Water, Supervisors, Fitters, Line Men and field staff of the department.During the meeting, it was informed that a comprehensive Drought Management Plan has been finalised by the Department. The department was directed for coverage of areas with hand pumps, dug wells and water tanker services to the maximum extent possible.DDC directed the field staff to lay special focus in remote areas apart from town and sub-urban areas.To ensure a robust, efficient and affordable response to drought, the DDC directed the field staff to continually assess the source of supply lines and in case of water declining below a certain threshold level intimate the higher ups for making alternate arrangements. They were also directed to maintain a close coordination with the public and respond to their calls and demands in a time bound manner to avoid any law and order situation emerging out of it.Decision was taken for starting tanker services in most vulnerable areas to meet out the daily water requirement of the public. The concerned officers were directed to explore the feasibility of extracting ground water in areas where acute shortage of water is being faced. Strict instructions were passed to officials of Mechanical wing of PHE to ensure night pumping and Executive Engineer PHE was asked to constitute special squads to ensure the instructions are implemented in letter and spirit.The meeting also discussed to get more dug wells prepared around the towns to meet out any shortage of water in the towns and adjoining areas.The DDC laid special emphasis on water conservation and asked the field staff to aware the public about importance of water conservation and judicious use of water. A control room has also been set up in office of Deputy Commissioner to monitor the issues related to drinking water for timely response by field functionaries of PHE department.