Lt Governor chairs high level meeting to review winter preparedness

Srinagar, Oct 7: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha Thursday chaired a high-level meeting on winter preparedness of different departments of UT administration at the Civil Secretariat.
The Lt Governor took stock of department-wise initiatives and works to be undertaken by the UT administration for winter preparedness. He directed the concerned officers to make necessary arrangements well in advance and asked for Department-wise action plans by Tuesday.
“Preemptively plan for exigencies arising out of weather vagaries. Ensure that a robust mechanism is in place to minimize disruptions of essential services to general public”, he added.
The Lt Governor asked the Heads of Departments to pass necessary directions to the concerned officials to work in a synchronized manner to achieve the best possible results.
During the meeting, the Lt Governor has set specific timelines for replacement of transformers in urban, rural, and far-flung/remote areas of the UT as 12 hours, 24 hours, and 48 hours respectively.
While enquiring about the buffer stock of transformers to be maintained by the Power Development Department, the Lt Governor directed them for rationalization of transformers across all the districts especially the districts which receive heavy snowfall.
The Lt Governor also enquired about the status of target given in previous meeting for reducing the AT&T losses by 10% and gave new targets.
While reviewing the preparedness of PWD department, the Lt Governor laid emphasis on ensuring uninterrupted road connectivity and proper traffic management. He also directed the concerned officers for deployment of snow clearing machinery and equipment for snow clearance on National Highways, and all the main and internal roads.
The Principal Secretary PWD apprised the Lt Governor about the directions passed to the field staff for ensuring smooth road connectivity throughout winters.
Taking stock of the preparedness of Health sector, the Lt Governor was apprised that district-wise control rooms will be set up while ensuring stocks of medical supplies.
The Lt Governor directed to ensure availability of medicines and deployment of doctors in all snowbound areas of the UT.
Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs was directed to maintain sufficient stock of the essential items including ration at its depots. The Lt Governor also directed to monitor the supplies of Petrol, Diesel, and LPG.
Similarly, the PHE Department and SMC were directed to prepare men and machinery for tackling inclement weather conditions.
Divisional Commissioners of both Jammu and Kashmir were asked to prepare a meticulous plan of the far-flung and snowbound remote areas of their respective divisions with respect to winter preparations.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lt Governor; Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department; Vivek Bhardwaj, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Medical Education; Shaleen Kabra, Principal Secretary, Home; Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary, HUDD; Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, PDD and Information Department; Shailendra Kumar, Principal Secretary, Public Works (R&B) Department; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lt Governor; Manoj Kumar Dwivedi Commissioner Secretary, GAD; Pandurang K Pole, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir; M Raju, Commissioner/Secretary, Jal Shakti Department, T. Namgyal, ADGP Traffic J&K; Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir; Dr. Raghav Langer, Divisional Commissioner Jammu; Deputy Commissioners and SSPs; Chief Engineers and other senior officers participated in the meeting, in person, and through virtual mode.