East District gears up for oncoming monsoon

DC ISSUES DIRECTIONS TO LINE DEPARTMENTS AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS TO INITIATE PREVENTIVE MEASURES
GANGTOK, 30 April: District Collector [East], D Anandan convened a district-level preparedness meeting for East Sikkim in view of the upcoming monsoon season with the line departments and concerned organizations here on 27 April. In the meeting, the various line departments and organizations have been instructed to take preventive measures immediately to mitigate the effects of natural calamities and also to be prepared with their manpower and machinery in case of any such occurrence during the monsoon.
The District Collector has also directed the district officials to submit the action plan or preparedness plan of their respective departments on the jobs assigned to them with the list of phone numbers of their officials by 05 May. He also directed the district officials to work in coordination and not to wait for instructions in case of any disaster. He also mentioned that in view of the 18 September earthquake, this year preparedness measures are being stepped up compared to last year.
Addressing a press conference today, the District Collector mentioned that the overflowing of roadside drains can cause landslides so this year the administration aims to clean up roadside drains and jhoras. He informed that GREF has been given directions that drains along the entire stretch of the 31A National Highway maintained by it should be cleaned up at frequent intervals. The GREF has also been directed to be ready with required manpower and machinery round-the-clock to tackle road blockages and that dumping of spoils along the road should be strictly avoided.
The DC informed that in urban areas, GMC has taken the responsibility of maintaining roadside drains and jhoras, while in rural areas the same task will be done by the Roads and Bridges Department. Likewise, apart from GMC areas, UD&HD will also clean the road side drains under its jurisdiction to ensure free flow of storm water in all the jhoras in the urban areas. These departments were also directed to be ready with the necessary man power and equipments for clearing landslides and removal of road blocks round-the-clock and to take immediate restoration works in the affected areas.
As part of the preventive measures, the Forest Department has also been directed to identify trees that are located precariously and are likely to fall during the monsoon and have them removed at the earliest. The DC informed that the DFO [Territorial] has been asked to identify such trees and to cut them down by 15 May.
However, the DC added, the DFO has been asked to be very judicious regarding this and to use other methods that would not require cutting down a tree if possible. In case of road blocks or damage to public property due to falling of trees, immediate deployment of men and machinery to cut and remove the tree should be the Forest Department’s primary concern and necessary manpower and equipment for cutting and disposal of trees should be kept on the alert.
While speaking on the response during calamities, the DC mentioned that the Police Department will be the first to respond in case of any calamity and the Control Room will be responsible for timely communication and information relating to occurrence of natural calamities and regular updates to the district officials. He further added that the Traffic Police will regulate the traffic at times of natural calamities and ensure unhindered movement of relief vehicles or Rescue Team, Quick Response Team, Ambulance, Fire Engines and others. The officer-in-charge of the concerned police station would be responsible for crowd control at the place of occurrence of natural calamities.
The Rescue Team and equipment of the Fire Department will be kept on alert at all times and Fire control room should immediately communicate the occurrence of any calamity to the district authorities and effective coordination with the traffic police is very essential, the DC mentioned.
The Power department has been directed to immediately restore power supply disrupted due to natural calamities along with provision of lighting and generator facilities for rescue and relief measures, regulation of power supply at the place of occurrence of natural calamities etc. The department has also been directed to be ready with the necessary manpower and equipment for restoration of power supply at all times.
Likewise, the Irrigation & Flood Control Department has been given the responsibility of cleaning up jhoras, irrigation channels, jhora training and restoration of blocked and damaged jhoras on priority basis.
The DC expressed that fresh excavation and hill cutting for PMGSY roads are the major reasons for landslides in rural areas and non-provision of protective walls along the roads leads to landslides and slush entering houses. The RMDD has been asked to look into preventive methods regarding this on priority basis.
PHE & Sewerage Department will be responsible for immediate restoration of water lines affected due to calamities. He stated that in many places, broken pipes worsen the situation so the department should undertake an exercise to fix broken pipelines at the earliest. He added that regulating the pipelines being laid along the roadside drains and jhoras is essential to ensure free flow of flood water along those water channels.
The DC stressed that a good communication network is very essential to ensure timely rescue and relief measures, so BSNL has been suggested to ensure that communication lines are always intact and for immediate restoration of telephone lines disrupted due to natural calamities should be BSNL’s priority.
He mentioned that the Food & Civil Supplies should ensure timely distribution of essential commodities especially in the rural areas during the natural calamities and in case of major road blocks, the essential commodities should be reached by transshipment or by an alternative route. The department has also been directed to undertake frequent checks to prevent over pricing of commodities.  The DC informed that the DCSO [East] has been asked to submit weekly reports on the status of availability of essential commodities.
Health & Family Welfare has been asked to provide a team of doctors and other staff for any health related emergency during natural calamities. The department should take preventive measures against any outbreak of communicable diseases, it was added.
Agriculture & Horticulture Department has been asked to undertake immediate assessment of loss of crops and its value. Apart from relief for NC fund, the Department has been asked to help farmers through the schemes implemented by the department.
Likewise, in case of any loss of livestock due to natural calamities, it should be reported to the Collectorate by the Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services department. The department has also been asked to submit a complete report containing particulars of age, breed, cause of death of livestock and other required information for release of ex-gratia. The department will be responsible for expediting the submission of such report and schemes like distribution of livestock should be concentrated in areas where people have lost their livestock due to natural calamities.
IPR has received the responsibility to disseminate accurate and required information to the media during the occurrence of major natural calamities.
All concerned SDMs and BDOs are required to make round-the-clock arrangement to respond immediately in case of a natural calamity with close coordination with the line departments.