DC Srinagar reviews winter preparedness

Srinagar, Nov 1: The District Development Commissioner (DDC) Srinagar, Mohammad Aijaz Asad Monday chaired a meeting of Sectoral Officers of various Departments to review the stock position of essentials and overall winter preparedness in the district.
The DDC took a review of overall winter preparedness in the district including power and water supply position, availability of ration, fuel, LPG and other essentials, besides measures taken for snow clearance.
While reviewing the status of power supply scenario in the district, the concerned Superintendent Chief Engineer informed that necessary buffer stock of transformers has been maintained at all Divisions and power is supplied to consumers as per schedule.
The DDC instructed the Engineers of KPDCL to keep men and machinery ready for restoration of power supply in case of disruption due to snowfall. He also stressed that fresh curtailment schedules should also be made public at an earliest so that consumers do not face any difficulty.
During the meeting, the DC set specific timelines for replacement of transformers in all the areas of the district.
With regard to Snow clearance, the DDC was apprised that 25 hi-tech Snow clearance machines have been kept ready by the Mechanical Engineering Department in Srinagar out of which 22 machines have been deployed at 22 important installations and vital sites across the district, while 3 machines are kept in standby mode to meet any exigency during heavy snowfall.
The SMC authorities informed that Srinagar district has been divided into 9 zones and about 3000 SMC men are ready to clear snow from inner lanes and bylanes of the City.
The Assistant Director FCS&CA informed that sufficient stock of Ration is available to cater the needs of 2-3 months, while Petrol and Diesel supply is also in buffer stock for at least 15 days.
The DDC also stressed the Officers on readying men and machinery to ensure timely redressal of weather vagaries and subsequent interruptions of supply of water, electricity and road closure due to snowfall during the winter months.
The DDC also directed for setting up of a special Control Room in the district to redress the winter related complaints of the public on fast track basis. He also instructed to formulate a Joint Action Plan (JAP) by all concerned Departments in advance to mitigate any crisis or emergency like situation during winters.
He stressed concerned to ensure a prompt response system is placed to ensure hassle-free supply of essential services to the general public and instructed that reaction time should be minimized while facing any emergency like situations.
The DDC directed the Chief Medical Officer to ensure availability of medicine and sufficient stock of drugs, emergency medicine, ambulance services in all tertiary care hospitals in the City besides making proper functioning of the central heating system in all hospitals in the winter season.
Meanwhile, the DDC directed the Officers of Tourism, Culture departments YSS, and NYK to prepare a schedule of events for Sports, Cultural and other activities to be held during Winter Months.
Among others the meeting was attended by Chief Planning Officer Srinagar, Superintendent Engineers of R&B, MED, PDD, SMC, Deputy Director Tourism, Chief Medical Officer and other officers.