Governor visits flood-prone areas

Srinagar, Jun 30: Governor N N Vohra Saturday undertook an extended tour of Srinagar city and its outskirts, visited Boulevard Road, Hydraulic Gauge Centre of river Jhelum at Ram Munshi Bagh; Lasjan, and Relief Camps in Rawal Pora and Ram Bagh areas for a first-hand view of the ground situation consequent to Jhelum rising above high flood levels.
Accompanied by B B Vyas and K Vijay Kumar, Advisors to Governor; B V R Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Sh. Basheer Khan, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir; M. Raju, Commissioner, PHE, Flood and Irrigation Department; and Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Governor inspected the Administration’s preparedness to evacuate people if Srinagar gets flooded.
Governor inspected the designated Relief Camps at the Tourism Department’s Community Centre Goripora, Government Boys Higher Secondary School Rawal Pora and the ERA Complex in the Shopping Complex building at Ram Bagh. Divisional Commissioner Khan explained the basic facilities being provided at these sites.
Governor instructed M Raju, Commissioner, PHE, Flood and Irrigation Department, to immediately ensure adequate availability of sand bags and other required materials for ensuring immediate repair of any breach in the Jhelum Bundh.
Earlier, the Governor also held a meeting held at the Raj Bhavan early in the morning, Governor N.N. Vohra reviewed the situation arising from the increasing water levels of Rivers Jhelum, Tawi and other major Nallahs in both regions of Jammu and Kashmir and the advance preparations which are required to be taken by the Administration.
Chief Secretary informed Governor about a Flood Control Room being set up at Hari Niwas in Gupkar; the obtaining and emerging weather conditions; water levels at various monitoring locations yesterday and today; mobilization of rescue teams and boats for evacuation; provision of pumps; electric power back up etc. He also informed that a mechanism has been put in place for ensuring effective coordination with concerned agencies including Police, Army, Central Armed Police Forces, NDRF and Civil Administration.
The meeting also took stock of the provisioning of dry rations, medicines and positioning of basic facilities like tents, blankets and toilets etc. at the designated Relief Centers, and in the buildings earmarked for the evacuated population.
Governor directed Chief Secretary to put in place a reliable communication system for the Senior officers who are at the helm for managing a flood situation; closely monitor water levels at Dal Lake and check the proper functioning of the lake’s water gates; devise an effective arrangement for the prompt mobilization of Rescue Teams; advance positioning of boats; ensure availability of doctors within 15 minutes, for emergency duties; timely alerts for areas which are under possible flood threat along with their identified evacuation sites. He directed Sh. Basheer Khan, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, to alert ground level staff who would perform emergency duties and set up Joint Control Rooms with all concerned agencies.
Secretary DMR&R was directed to mobilize all concerned persons who would be involved in Disaster Management and provide three daily reports on various parameters to enable close monitoring of the situation. Commissioner Flood and Irrigation Department was directed to inspect all the bunds in the flood alert areas and immediately repair those which are prone to breach.