Div Com Kashmir Directs Timely Snow Clearance, Winter Stocking

Category: Government

Div Com Kashmir Directs Timely Snow Clearance, Winter Stocking

Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Anshul Garg reviewed winter preparedness across Kashmir, directing departments to ensure timely snow clearance, essential supplies and uninterrupted services in remote areas.

Nov. 13, Srinagar: Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Anshul Garg on Thursday directed all concerned departments to strengthen winter preparedness, ensure timely snow clearance and maintain adequate stocks of essential commodities in remote and snowbound areas across the Valley.

Chairing a high-level meeting to review winter arrangements, Garg stressed coordinated efforts, prompt response mechanisms and uninterrupted delivery of essential services during the winter season.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioners, Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Director, Srinagar Airport, SSP Traffic Rural and senior officers from KPDCL, R&B, MED, PMGSY, ULB, BRO, NHAI, Irrigation and Flood Control, PHE, IMD, FCS&CA, Health, SDA, Police and other concerned departments.

Reviewing snow clearance arrangements, the Divisional Commissioner assessed the action plans of MED, R&B, PMGSY, ULB, SMC and BRO. He directed the agencies to ensure prompt clearance of snow from roads and clearly define jurisdictional responsibilities to prevent duplication and confusion.

He also stressed the effective utilisation of available machinery and manpower and instructed the concerned agencies to complete all pending stage contracts to strengthen snow clearance operations.

Chief Engineers and other officers informed the meeting that adequate arrangements had been made to ensure timely snow clearance on highways, major roads, streets and inner lanes immediately after snowfall.

Reviewing power preparedness, Garg assessed electricity demand and supply, availability of buffer stocks of transformers, transformer oil, DG sets and high-speed diesel (HSD) in Gurez, besides progress on branch cutting.

The meeting was informed that all districts had adequate stocks of transformers and 80% of branch-cutting work had been completed.

It was further informed that the Valley's average winter electricity demand stands at around 1,700 MW against an average supply of 1,300 MW, while peak demand touches 2,400 MW.

The Divisional Commissioner directed the Chief Engineer, KPDCL, to enhance workshop capacity wherever required, complete the remaining branch-cutting work at the earliest, strictly follow scheduled power curtailment timings and ensure prompt replacement and repair of damaged transformers.

On the availability of essential commodities in remote areas, particularly Gurez and the Karnah-Machil-Keran belt, he directed the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department (FCS&CA) to complete advance stocking of LPG, petroleum products, rice and wheat within a week.

He emphasised maintaining sufficient supplies in all far-flung areas to prevent shortages during road closures.

Taking note of delays in starting winter air sorties in Bandipora and Kupwara, Garg directed the Civil Aviation Department to operationalise the facility by Dec. 1 to facilitate emergency transportation from remote and inaccessible areas.

Regarding flight operations at Srinagar Airport, he instructed the airport director to ensure timely communication of schedule changes to passengers and the public in view of adverse weather conditions.

The Divisional Commissioner also reviewed healthcare arrangements, including heating facilities in hospitals, availability of essential medicines, deployment of medical staff in remote areas and requirements for four-wheel-drive (4x4) ambulances.

He directed the National Health Mission (NHM) to provide 4x4 ambulances to the Directorate of Health Services Kashmir for distribution among districts, in addition to SANJY ambulances.

Emphasising advance medical preparedness, Garg instructed the Health Department to prepare comprehensive lists of expectant mothers and critically ill patients living in vulnerable and remote areas. He also directed officials to make arrangements for shifting them to temporary shelters, wherever necessary, before heavy snowfall and road closures to ensure continued access to medical care.

Reviewing the Jal Shakti Department's preparedness, he directed officials to ensure uninterrupted functioning of all public health engineering (PHE) schemes, including lift water supply systems, and arrange water tankers wherever required.

He also asked the Forest Department to maintain adequate stocks of firewood at depots across the Valley.

To strengthen emergency response and interdepartmental coordination, Garg directed all district administrations and departments to keep their respective control rooms, including the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), operational round-the-clock.

He also called for the appointment of nodal officers and circulation of their contact details to facilitate coordination, public assistance and timely dissemination of information.

Stressing the importance of weather-related alerts, he directed concerned departments to promptly share weather and avalanche forecasts with the public to minimise risks and prevent loss of life.

Meanwhile, the Divisional Commissioner asked the Commissioner, SMC, to identify waterlogging-prone areas across Srinagar and ensure adequate deployment of dewatering pumps to deal with any eventuality during winter.

He also stressed accountability and timely grievance redressal, directing officers to maintain proper records of the time an issue is reported and the time taken by the concerned department to resolve it.

During the meeting, Deputy Commissioners apprised the Divisional Commissioner of winter preparedness measures undertaken in their respective districts and highlighted issues requiring intervention.

Garg urged all departments to maintain close coordination and complete necessary arrangements well in advance to minimise public inconvenience and ensure the safety and well-being of people across Kashmir Division during winter.

In this folder:

Photo file: 2611131634355953_20261113163500_74

Photo caption: Div Com Kashmir reviews Winter Preparedness, directs prompt Snow Clearance, stocking of Essentials in Remote Areas