Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik yesterday said that the district administration had set up a 24X7 flood control room (0161-2433100) in the administrative complex.
Chairing a high-level meeting of all the departments to review arrangements for flood control here at Bachat Bhawan, the Deputy Commissioner said that the duty roster of the staff had also been prepared in the control room to ensure it operated round the clock.
She said that in order to effectively monitor the staff, the senior officers of the administration have also been appointed to check this control room on rotation basis.
The Deputy Commissioner under-scored the need to put in place a viable mechanism for completing all the flood control arrangements. She said that the officials must remain vigilant so as to avoid any sort of untoward incident due to rain.
She also directed the officials to strengthen flood-prone sensitive places to minimize damage in the possibility of excess water being released from the water reservoir.
She also asked the Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) to establish local level flood control rooms in their respective sub-divisions for constant monitoring of the situation. The DC instructed officials to constantly coordinate with each other via WhatsApp groups to closely monitor the situation during monsoons. She directed them to keep their mobile phones switched on round the clock.
The DC said that the district administration had already made adequate arrangements to meet any sort of situation in the wake of the rainy season. The Deputy Commissioner said that the contingency plan had been prepared by every department and they were fully equipped to tackle any sort of situation.
Surabhi Malik said that the evacuation plan, in case of floods, had already been finalized and the sensitive places have been identified along with the safe places where the residents of flood-prone areas would be shifted if required.
She also reviewed the arrangements made by Food & Supply, Irrigation, Power, Drainage, Municipal Corporation, and Police departments for tackling the situation, in case of floods.
She asked the Drainage department to immediately start the work of cleaning all the drains in the district. She also told the officials to install a wireless public address system in vehicles to alert people of floods.
Prominent among those present in the meeting included MC Additional Commissioner Rishi Pal Singh, ADC (General) Rahul Chaba, ADC (Khanna) Amarjit Bains, ADC (UD) Anita Darshi, Ludhiana Rural SP (H) Pirthipal Singh, all SDMs, besides several others.