Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar today chaired an extensive preliminary snowfall clearance meeting to avoid any eventuality in view of the inclement weather during coming winter season at Civil Secretariat here.Principal Secretary PWD, Shailendra Kumar; Chief Engineers of R&B, Mechanical Engineering Department, PMGSY, Mughal Road Project of Kashmir division attended the meeting while as Deputy Commissioner Shopian, Choudhary Yaseen; Chief Engineers of R&B, Mechanical Engineering Department (MED), PMGSY, Mughal Roads Project of Jammu division participated in the meeting through video conferencing.Speaking during the meeting, Advisor Bhatnagar stressed upon the officials that action plan should be prepared in advance at all levels besides process of tendering the works should be started early to meet any eventuality in case of heavy snowfall.The Advisor directed the officials to establish 24X7 Joint Control Rooms (JCRs) to respond swiftly in times of any exigency besides maintaining constant coordination with MET department for regular weather updates. He asked the officials to establish proper grievance redressal mechanism at control rooms for facilitating the public and providing them timely information.Emphasizing on the need of timely action in view of early snowfall, Advisor Bhatnagar stressed upon the Chief Engineer, MED that modern equipments for snow clearance should be acquired at the earliest while as the stationed machinery should be repaired and maintained timely for early deployment to hard zone areas.
The Advisor directed the Chief Engineers of R&B, PMGSY, MED and Mughal Road Project to maintain coordination between them during snow clearance and other restoration works. He urged them to keep greater synergy with other agencies like SMC, Urban Local Bodies, Tourism department and others besides maintaining regular coordination with district level teams for the smooth flow of the services.Advisor Bhatnagar also directed the officials that men and machinery should be stationed near inter-district roads, connecting arteries and roads leading to hospitals and other emergency services so that it can be deployed timely in view of any exigency.The Advisor impressed upon the officials that tender process for manual snow clearance should be done in advance besides timely payments to contractors should be made so that they actively participate in the process.Speaking during the meeting, Principal Secretary, PWD informed the meeting that this year the department has reoriented the strategy for snow clearance after last years snowfall. He added that 90 percent machinery is in deployable condition besides machinery and equipments at hard zone areas like Peer Ki Gali and others will be deployed in due time.Chief Engineer MED, informed the meeting that micro planning for snow clearance is in advanced stage besides the modern snow clearance equipments and machines coming from Italy are also in transit and will reach here by the end of October.