‘Providing clean drinking water should be top priority’
SRINAGAR, JULY 28: Advisor to the Governor, Khurshid Ahmed Ganai today called upon the engineers of the Flood Control Department to increase their visibility on ground and take proactive initiatives to achieve set goals for flood protection works in the State.
The Advisor issued these directions while chairing a high-level meeting to review the functioning of PHE & Irrigation and Flood Control Department, here today.
Emphasizing the need to enhance contact with people, Khurshid Ganai said it is imperative that engineers are accessible on ground so as to restore the confidence of the people. He said staying in regular touch with local populace would help the officials to take effective steps in possible emergencies. “There has to be an institutionalized monitoring method which would track movement of the work force on the ground,” he emphasized.
The Advisor pinpointed the acute shortage of drinking water, especially in remote areas, as an area of concern. “It is a great irony that people suffer paucity of water when nature has bestowed us with huge wealth of water resources,” he said, adding that clean drinking water is a right of every citizen of the state.
He instructed that it should not be a herculean task to do so as it could be achieved by adopting the modern technique and maintaining cleanliness in and around all filtration plants.
Earlier, two separate power point presentations from Jammu and Kashmir divisions were presented to the Advisor, where complete information regarding the short term as well as long term measures planned by the department to protect the State from any flood like situation were shared with him.
The officials also briefed the advisor regarding the financial implications the measures will bear.
The Advisor directed the concerned to prepare and submit detailed proposals to his office assuring that he will do everything possible to ensure that all the measures required the flood situation and to make the State safe from floods could be taken at an earliest.
Secretary PHE and Irrigation and Flood Control Farooq Shah, Chief Engineers, Superintendent Engineers, Exens and other concerned officials from Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions attended the meeting.
