Srinagar/April,7: Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh, Friday chaired a high level meeting in presence of Minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, Sham Lal Chowdhary, to review the situation arising out of torrential rains and flashfloods in Kashmir.
Chief Secretary B R Sharma, Financial Commissioner B B Vyas, IGP Kashmir SJM Gillani, heads of all concerned Departments and other officers attended the meeting.
The Deputy Chief Minister was informed that the water levels in River Jhelum are constantly receding at Sangam and Ram Munshi Bagh.
The meeting was informed that besides 32 fire tenders over 140 SMC dewatering pumps have been put in operation in various water-logged areas of the City.
It was also given out that the divisional administration has deployed men and machinery across the Valley and has dispatched 12.65 lakh sand bags in flood prone areas to augment embankments along the river banks.
The meeting was also informed that about 50-60 disaster management centers each have been indentified in every district where people of affected areas can be evacuated according to the threat level. Besides, SRTC vehicles and boats have been made available with Deputy Commissioners of all districts for evacuation of affected people to safer locations.
With regard to the stock of essential supplies in the Valley, the Deputy CM was informed that the FCS&CA Department has enough stock of food grains sufficient for the next two months, whereas the LPG stocks include 56,000 cylinders at bottling station and 127,000 cylinders in transit. The Dy Chief Minister stressed on the importance of LPG stocks in the landlocked Valley and asked the concerned Department to always ensure stocks for at least 15 to 20 days.
The Commissioner SMC informed the Dr Singh that 80 dewatering pumps are currently functional in the city and about 90 percent of the city has been cleared of inundation.
The meeting was also informed that under SDRF scheme all the DCs have been provided with Rs 50 lakh each for rehabilitation purposes.
Director Metrological Department informed the meeting that weather system which brought torrential rains is moving and there is no report of major rainfall from any part of the Division. He said that only isolated rains are forecast for next week.
The meeting also deliberated on steps to be taken for ensuring effective drainage system in the city and asked the concerned to put forth the suggestions regarding the same.
Later, the Deputy Chief Minister took an extensive tour around the city to get a first-hand account of the situation having risen from continued rainfall during the past few days. He also visited the Brari Nambal Lagoon and the Achan dumping site to take stock of the ongoing developmental works there.
