JK News Today
SRINAGAR, JUNE 30:
Advisor, Chief Secretary take stock of situation
Series of instructions issued for immediate compliance
Advisor, Shri K Vijay Kumar and Chief Secretary Shri B V R Subrahmanyam called an emergency meeting of senior officers of the Civil and Police Administration and also the Army early today morning to review the preparedness across Kashmir division, in particular Srinagar City, in the wake of flood like situation following incessant rains.
Director General of Police, J&K, Dr S P Vaid, Principal Secretary Home, R K Goyal, ADGP, Civil Defence, Home Guards & SDRF, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, IG Kashmir Zone, SSP Srinagar, DC Srinagar, Chief Engineer, I&FC, Kashmir, Director Health Services, Kashmir, Director Met Department, J&K, and other senior officers of the State Government, CRPF and Army attended the meeting.
The Advisor and Chief Secretary took a detailed review of the preparations and received brief from the concerned officers/line departments. The Advisor and Chief Secretary issued a slew of directions/instructions to the concerned officers for immediate compliance which interalia, include (i) alerting the people living in the low lying/ vulnerable areas, to be vigilant about the flood situation and be in preparedness for evacuation-currently, this is only an alert for being prepared and people should be on the lookout for the next alert for evacuation, if necessary (ii) establishing joint control room with components from civil, police, CRPF and Army at Hari Niwas and disseminating contact details to the public (iii) All relief and rescue material- men, boats etc to be kept in readiness to promptly respond to any evacuation call (iv) Divisional Commissioner to put competent ADMs/SDMs at the disposal of DC Srinagar immediately, to facilitate coordination in the matters relating to control room, evacuation, recue, relief etc (v) Civil and Police Administration to prepare for communication redundancies (viii) Civil Administration to prepare for redundancies related to essential supplies including power, ration, fuel and medicine (ix) DC Srinagar to ensure that shelters/evacuation centres are ready with basic facilities like food, water, blankets etc for housing people, in the event of evacuation of people (x) Principal Secretary Home, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, IG Kashmir, DC Srinagar in coordination with Information Department to disseminate information through electronic and print media to the public about the flood situation in the division.
Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir was instructed to issue an advisory to the departments to relocate the critical equipment in hospitals and other important installations to safe places where the flood threat is less, like upper floors of the official buildings.
CRPF was requested to keep all its boats available along with manpower ready for any assistance, in coordination with IG, Kashmir. The Army was also requested to keep manpower, boats and aerial support ready along with communication sets in case of any eventuality, in coordination with IG, Kashmir
Advisor and Chief Secretary asked the officers to handle the situation calmly, confidently and sagaciously and mobilize their staff for meeting any eventuality and initiate immediate action, wherever required, without waiting for instructions from the higher ups.
Admin fully geared to tackle situation: Vyas
‘Multidisciplinary Control Rooms established at Divisional, District levels’; Situation under control: CS
Advisor to Governor, BB Vyas today said the administration is fully geared to tackle the situation in view of the looming flood- threat in Kashmir following incessant rains and rising water levels in the rivers and Nallahs. He said while there is no need to panic, but people should take precautions.
“Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed heavy rainfall starting from 7:00 PM on 28 June 2018 resulting in rising water levels,” Vyas told media. He was flanked by Advisor, K Vijay Kumar and Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam.
He informed that 53 mm of rainfall has been recorded in three districts including Shopian and Anantnag and Srinagar. He said the people have been warned to remain alert and be ready in case of any possibility of evacuation.
The Advisor said as the water level rose above the danger mark at Sangam in South Kashmir as well the water level continues to rise at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar; government has set up round-the-clock multi-disciplinary monitoring system in various parts of the state.
“We have the reports that due the incessant rains from last couple of days, lot of damage is caused damage in Shopian and other south Kashmir areas. The administration has alerted people to remain alert but don’t panic,” he said.
“Due to the heavy rainfall, the water flow in River Jhelum has gone upto 50000 cusecs against the carrying capacity of 35000 cusecs and the water level at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar till early morning today was upto 20.82,” he said.
He said 7 teams of State Disaster Response Force and two teams of National Disaster Response Force are in place for rescue and relief operation beside this control rooms have been set up at district and divisional headquarters to meet any eventuality. He said that 140 NDRF and SDRF experts have been directed to remain vigilant to tackle the situation.
He informed that in Srinagar, government has created 44 shelter sheds and relief teams are now in place. The Advisor said that the Chief Secretary has issued orders that all the essential services including supply of rations is ensured to the people.
“The next challenge that we face now is heavy water logging in urban areas. 15 heavy duty and 40 small water pumps are in place in Srinagar city and SMC has been directed to monitor the functioning of these pumps,” he said.
On Amarnath Amarnath Yatra
The Advisor said that the Amarnath Yatra has been suspended from both the routes (Baltal and Pahalgam) due to landslides at various places. He said the pilgrimage to the holy cave will resume after the tracks are cleared and weather improves.
Situation in Jammu
The Advisor informed that the three deaths have been reported from Jammu province in which one lady lost her life from falling of tree. District and divisional teams have been activated there also. There are also reports of loss of livestock and damage to Kacha houses. He said the Revenue teams are accessing the damage caused due to the flood like situation, adding that in this course whatever relief and whatever admissible assistance is permissible shall be distributed among the affected victims.
On Weather Forecast
The Advisor informed that the weather is expected to improve soon. He said the administration is keenly monitoring the situation. People living in low-lying areas have been asked to be prepared for evacuation in case of an emergency.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam said that he is personally monitoring the preparedness of the administration and is in touch with all the concerned to handle the situation effectively.
He said the situation is under control and there was only a flood alert so that the people take necessary precautions.
The Chief Secretary said the government and its entire machinery is monitoring the situation closely. “There is no need for anybody to have any sense of apprehension or panic about the developing situation,” Subrahmanyam said. He said if the situation worsens the government will handle the situation effectively. “As of now things are normal and are in control, besides the government and entire machinery is alert,” he said.
The CS said that the people living in areas along the embankments of River Jhelum, other streams and in low lying areas have been asked to remain vigilant.
Rains Aftermath: Advisor Khurshid Ganai reviews situation in Srinagar
12 relief camps established in City, another 32 being identified
SRINAGAR, JUNE 30: Newly appointed Advisor to Governor, Khurshid Ganai, this morning chaired a meeting to take stock of flood control operations underway in Srinagar being directed from the control room set up at Hari Niwas here.
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, Additional DCs Purnima Mittal and Doifode Sagar besides heads of all concerned departments attended the meeting.
The meeting was informed that 12 relief camps for rehabilitation have been established at critical locations in Srinagar. It was said the relief camps have been equipped with shelter sheds, blankets, food, water, toilets, gen-sets, medical teams as well as trucks loaded with boats. Operations at each camp are being overseen by a camp in-charge to ensure organized operations.
It was said another 32 relief camps are being identified for establishment across the Srinagar district.
The Control Room set up at Hari Niwas shall function round-the-clock to tackle the situation arising from the weather situation prevalent in the district.
14 Emergency Centres set up in Srinagar, Pampore
Don’t panic, stay alert: Div Com to people
The Government has asked the people not to panic due to incessant rains and rising water level in river Jhelum as all precautionary measures have been taken by the divisional administration for tacking the situation and safety of the people.
This was stated by the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir Mr Baseer Ahmad Khan at a meeting convened at the Joint Control Room established in Hari Niwas while reviewing the status of the arrangements put in place by the different departments. The control room has been set up to monitor the arrangements being put in place by the Government in the wake of rising the water level in river Jhelum and its tributaries.
Mr Khan asked the officers of line departments to mobilize men and machinery for making the Emergency Centres (EC) functional identified at different location in the Srinagar city and Pampore. He asked them to made available ration, medicines and medical staff, blankets, drinking water, tents, trucks, boats and other eatables at every Centre. He asked the officers of PDD to make alternate arrangements of electricity by way of keeping one generator available at each Centre.
The Divisional Commissioner said the Emergency Centres have been established for accommodating the people in case any eviction is required to make in vulnerable and flood prone areas. He asked officers to work in close coordination to avoid any confusion in making the Emergency Centres meaningful. He said 14sites have been identified for establishing Emergency Centres which will start functioning in the afternoon.
Chief Engineer PHE for judicious use of drinking water
Chief Engineer PHE Department Kashmir today urged the general public to make judicious use of drinking water under the present flood-like situation prevalent in the Valley.
He said in the current situation importance of drinking water increases and generation of drinking water from treatment plants gets reduced drastically.
The Chief Engineer advised people to use water for drinking after boiling as an extra precaution.
