Uttarakhand: CM Dhami’s instructions to District Magistrates – Conduct survey to remove encroachment and illegal construction on the banks of rivers and drains

While reviewing the relief and rescue operations in the disaster affected areas of the state, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami directed the officials to ensure the safety of the people living on the banks of rivers and streams. The water level of the rivers should be constantly monitored and in case of danger, the people living nearby should be immediately shifted to safer places.

The Chief Minister once again reiterated that there should not be any kind of encroachment on the banks of rivers and streams. He also directed that wherever there is illegal construction or encroachment, all the District Magistrates should ensure to conduct a detailed survey with a view to removing it.

Roads should be repaired as soon as the rainy season passes

The Chief Minister said that the number of Char Dham pilgrims will increase when the rainfall decreases. The festival season is also coming. In view of this, work should be done to repair the damaged roads soon. He directed the Secretary Public Works Department to complete all the formalities along with the tender for the repair of roads on time. Work should be started as soon as the rainy season passes. He directed to arrange JCB, Pokland and other necessary equipment to open roads in all sensitive places.

Deploy irrigation department officials in dams

The Chief Minister also directed to deploy irrigation department officials for effective monitoring of dams in the state. He said that prior information about release of water from the dam should be given to the district administration on a regular basis. In case of release of more water from the dam in unavoidable circumstances, timely arrangements should be made at the level of all the concerned districts for the safety of life and property.

Districts should remain in touch with each other

The Chief Minister said that to deal with disasters effectively, it is necessary that all the districts keep coordinating with each other and keep exchanging information. Due to rain in the mountains, flood and waterlogging situation may arise somewhere in the plain districts. To deal with this, he asked to keep proper arrangements of boats, rafts and pumps for water drainage etc.

Encouraged DM-SSP of districts

The Chief Minister praised the leadership ability of all the District Magistrates and Senior Superintendents of Police for the disaster relief and rescue work being done by them and said that the block and tehsil level officers should take inspiration from this. He said that it is very important that correct information and alerts reach the people on time. Community participation and awareness of the people is necessary to minimize the damage from disasters.

Form teams for survey

The Chief Minister directed to conduct a survey soon in view of the assessment of damage from the disaster and to form teams of various departments for this, so that this work can be completed soon and reconstruction work can start soon. During this, Commissioner Garhwal Vinay Shankar Pandey, Commissioner Kumaon Deepak Rawat, Secretary Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Vinod Kumar Suman, Secretary Public Works Department Pankaj Pandey along with other officials joined the online meeting.