Bhatnagar reviews winter preparedness

Srinagar, Sep 22: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar Thursday chaired a high level meeting to review the winter preparedness and logistic arrangements of different road agencies in view of coming winter season at Civil Secretariat here.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, PW (R&B), Shailendra Kumar; Commissioner SMC, Athar Amir; Chief Engineer, Mechanical Engineering department (MED), Jammu/Kashmir, Chief Engineer, PMGSY, Jammu/Kashmir, Chief Engineer, Mughal Road, Regional Officer, NHAI, representatives of NHIDCL, BRO and other agencies both in person and through video conferencing.
During the meeting, the Advisor held detailed review of Snow Clearance Action plan of all road agencies and also took stock of other logistics required for successful implementation of the plan.
Addressing the meeting, Advisor Bhatnagar directed the concerned officers to adopt a meticulous approach to address the requirements th general public; particularly those living in critical and snow bound areas. He asked the officers to take personal interests while working in the field and be responsive to general public for addressing their genuine concerns.
Laying special emphasis on ensuring uninterrupted road connectivity during winters, Advisor Bhatnagar directed the officers to deploy the snow clearing machinery and equipments for snow clearance in critical habitations well in advance so as to avoid any exigency due to uneven snowfall.
The Advisor also stressed upon the officers of road agencies to work in coordination and synergy while implementing the plan and no lackadaisical approach will be entertained while carrying out required works under the plan. He also enjoined upon the officers to procure the necessary machinery by the end of October for timely deployment.
Highlighting the need for training of field staff, Advisor Bhatnagar impressed upon the officers that a short refresher training course for the field staff should be organised for better on the ground management. He also asked the officers to organise training for drivers and associates of the high end machines like Snow Unimogs, Snow cutter Blowers and others procured by the department recently.
For prompt response and better redressal of grievances during winter months, Advisor Bhatnagar directed the Commissioner SMC to work out the modalities for linking all control units of MED with the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) of Srinagar Smart City so that better services could be provided to general public. He asked them to issue timely weather advisories and make every necessary emergency facility available through this centre to deal with any contingent situation.
Speaking during the meeting, Shailendra Kumar impressed upon the officers to complete all the deployments of machinery as well as other attachments of snow related equipments well in time. He also asked the representative of NHIDCL to make the escape tunnel near Z-Morh tunnel construction site ready for dealing with any kind of exigency.
During the meeting, Chief Engineer, MED Kashmir gave a detailed presentation on the Snow Clearance Action Plan. He informed the meeting that MED has upgraded the fleet by around 50% from last year besides several high end snow clearance equipments like Unimogs and Snow Blowers have also been procured by the department which will effectively help in snow clearance operations.