SRINAGAR: The Divisional Commissioner (Div Com) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri today convened a meeting to take a holistic review of the flood mitigation plan and SOP for the management of the breach at the Kandizal segment of river Jhelum to save the city from massive deluge in future.
The meeting was attended by the CEO, SSCL; Deputy Commissioners of Srinagar, Budgam and Pulwama; Directors of School Education department and RDD; Chief Engineers of I&FC, KPDCL, PHE, UEED and MED; MD SRTC, Director Indian Meteorological Department; Nodal Officer SEOC, Kashmir; besides Core Commander BB Cant; SSPs, Officers of NDRF, SDRF, Civil Defense, Fire & Emergency etc.
Addressing the meeting, Div Com directed for establishment of a sophisticated decision-making support system to ensure the flow of information through a proper communication system to stakeholders at the time of flood exigency.
While underscoring the importance of the Kandizal breach to save the inundation of urban areas, Div Com stressed on framing SOPs to take the final call when required.
He added that the breach should be the ultimate attempt and the last resort to avert danger to the urban areas of Srinagar City, wherein the decision should be taken in context to the ground situations.
He said the objective of the breach is to save the more vital infrastructure and areas by the inundation of less vital ones.
To tackle the flood situation, he emphasized on building a mechanism for making men and materials available to saturate the requirement when the need arises.
He also directed for the establishment of an emergency helpline to respond to the crisis during floods.
Besides, he asked for an updation of resources on the India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN), identification of relief centres and usage of satellite phones.
Earlier, CE, I&FC gave a detailed presentation on the Kandizal breach, the impact of the breach, parameters to monitor river gauge, previous data and changes in flood plains over the years.
CE stated that the location where the river generally breaches is located near the village Kandizal in District Pulwama.
The meeting was informed that the area of Kandizal over the past few decades has seen significant changes in land use and land cover by way of huge urbanization and a significant reduction in the once vast and open lands.
The expansion of road networks, particularly the Srinagar Jammu Expressway and the Railway Line and the huge infrastructure which has come up along the Expressway have also significantly contributed to the land change pattern.
