Rohit Kansal hails field staff, says department had made preparations in advance
Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, Jan 7: Kashmir witnessing a heavy snowfall exposed the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Road and Buildings and Mechanical Engineering Department (MED) as these departments failed to clear the roads but the Power Department led from the front as the officials ensured that electricity is not disrupted.
The SMC has been struggling to put its act together since Tuesday after the snowfall stopped. Even now, many roads and by lanes are blocked as the snow has not been cleared.
“It is embarrassing to see the SMC men clearing snow with shovels,” Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu told a news conference at his office here.
Mattu admitted that SMC and other two departments clearing the snow on roads could have done better. He urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to ascertain why the situation turned ugly on the ground following heavy snowfall. “I respect LG as he believes in delivering. I will also write a letter to him to ascertain why it took a long to clear the snow on roads,” he said.
However, Power Department on the other hand didn’t allow heavy snowfall to disrupt the electricity.
Talking to Precious Kashmir, Principal Secretary, Power Department, Rohit Kansal lauded the hard work of the department’s field staff and gave full credit to them for keeping Kashmir illuminated during the snowfall. “We had made preparations well in advance to tackle the weather vagaries. We had ensured that branch cutting of trees is done before the winter commences. We had kept buffer stock of transformers available. Even if the disruptions occurred at few places the power was restored within six hours,” Kansal said.
The Principal Secretary said that divisional works of the Power Department were activated well in advance. “We could provide electricity to the people due to the homework which we had done much before the snow could arrive,” Kansal added.
An observer said, “It’s for the first time in the past so many years that electricity didn’t betray the people of Kashmir amidst heavy snowfall. Power Department deserves all the credit for it.”
He said, “But the road clearance operations not taking place at a fast pace disappointed people. As on date many link roads are still blocked and people have been confined within their homes.”
“The speed at which the roads are being cleared it appears that it may take many days for people to come out and resume their daily chores. The administration should take a note of the hardships being faced by the people and send the snow cutting machines in the areas which continue to remain inaccessible,” he added.
Snowfall Aftermath:SMC, R&B fail to clear roads; Power Deptt leads from front
