Winter preparedness
Recently Deputy Chief Minister held a review meeting regarding winter preparedness for snow clearance in J&K. He asked for effective coordination among all line departments.
He was chairing a high level meeting today at the Civil Secretariat, Srinagar, to review the preparedness for snow clearance operations for winter season.
During the meeting, a detailed winter action plan was presented which envisaged smooth functioning of essential services and connectivity across the Union Territory, particularly in snow prone areas.
It was informed that as a matter of priority, MED will oversee the clearance of 10,223 km of roads with 6,728 km categorised as Priority-1, including highways, hospital routes and roads to critical infrastructure. Besides, PMGSY has finalised contracts for snow clearance on 4042 km of rural roads with an additional 4 contracts under process, the meeting was apprised
It was also given out that 310 snow clearance machines have been mobilized by MED, with an increase from 254 machines last year. Besides, a total of 293 operational staff have been deployed, compared to 231 last year, to handle challenging conditions.
The meeting discussed key roads and highways such as NH-44 (Banihal-Qazigund), Mughal Road, Bandipora-Gurez Road, and Patnitop routes as critical areas of focus requiring special focus. Ensuring uninterrupted supply chains for LPG, petroleum and essential commodities was identified as a priority area.
