Principal Secretary Jal Shakti reviews winter preparedness

Srinagar, Nov 11: Principal Secretary Jal Shakti, Shaleen Kabra Friday chaired a meeting at Civil Secretariat here to review the winter preparedness and logistics arrangements of the department across the districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
While chairing the meeting, Principal Secretary directed the concerned officers to adopt a proactive approach to address the needs and requirements of the people; especially those living in far-flung and snow-bound areas and directed them to ensure that there is no scarcity of drinking water during the winters and take proper steps forehand in this regard so that all the issues are ironed out.
He directed the Chief Engineers to prepare a well though out plan about the list of problems that may crop up in future so that most planned and appropriate measures are taken well in advance.
While taking stock of the implementation of the directions passed in the previous meetings, he asked the officers to closely monitor the winter preparations and directed them to work in a synchronized manner and put in dedicated efforts to avoid any inconvenience to the people of J&K by putting in place a much comprehensive and viable winter preparedness mechanism.
Regarding the freezing of water sources during winters, he directed the officers to compile details of vulnerable areas based on past experience and take immediate measures as a first line of action and look out for solutions which are permanent in nature. He said that immediate measures have also to be taken where pipes are exposed and bursting occurs during freezing temperatures.
He said that an institutional mechanism should be developed so that an emerging problem is brought to the notice of the relevant authorities and prompt action is taken and we should have our resources readily available to address the same.
It was given out in the meeting that mapping of all vital installations and listing out all the locations of roads leading to water supply schemes and lift stations has been done. It was also given out that sufficient quantity of tankers is available across J&K. He directed the officers that monitoring and regulating use of water tankers should be carried out on a regular basis.
Principal Secretary further directed the officers to ensure power supply is available at all the required places and make alternate power supply in case of disruptions and fuel stocking is done well in advance.
He also directed for establishment of control rooms and helpline numbers for registering of grievances. Asserting that public grievance redressal is a critical component of governance of this government, he said that the grievances should be compiled and the concerned officers should ensure that appropriate action has been taken within 24 hours.
He further directed the officers to maintain close coordination and synergy while executing different plans both at micro and macro level and asked them to ensure uniformity of data compilation from both the divisions for better results.
The meeting was attended by Special Secretary, Jal Shakti Department, Chief Engineers, SEs and other senior officers of the department.