The Governor was scheduled to undertake an aerial reconnaissance of the Pahalgam-Chandanwari-Sheshnag-MahagunasTop-Panjtarni axis to assess the latest status of snowmelt along the traditional Yatra route along the
The Governor will make a fresh attempt to undertake aerial reconnaissance of the Sheshnag route in the coming days.
The Governor, accompanied by Navin K. Choudhary, his Principal Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board, landed at Chandanwari and discussed with the present and former Deputy Commissioners ( Kifayat Hussain Rizvi, handed over as Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag two days ago and his successor, Farooq Ahmad Shah, would be taking over on 21st May 2012), Chief Executive Officer, Pahalgam Development Authority and other concerned officers the arrangements being made for the Yatris. He was briefed about the construction of an Entry Gate at Chandanwari and issued instructions for the construction of shelters and toilet blocks near this Gate to facilitate the visiting pilgrims and other visitors. He walked upto the take-off point of Chandanwari-Holy Cave track which is still buried under a large glacier. Later, he traveled from Chandanwari to Pahalgam to inspect the condition of this road. He directed the PMGSY engineers to urgently improve the entire Chandanwari-Pahalgam road to meet the heavy Yatra and tourist related vehicular traffic.
Thereafter, the Governor had an extensive round of the Nunwan Base Camp and inspected the various ongoing works, including those relating to the installation of baths and toilets; water and power supplies; repair of paths and drains; sanitation; treatment plant; repair and painting of huts and creation of other requisite facilities for the Yatris. He directed all the concerned Departments and Agencies to ensure the commissioning of all the required facilities by 10thJune, 2012. He also called for making adequate arrangements for installation of sufficient number of garbage bins; daily garbage collection and deposit in the designated dumps; illumination; fire-fighting arrangements; public address system; Information and Guidance Centre etc at the Camp.
The Governor directed the CEO to ensure that all the required sanitation related measures, including the operationalization of Sewage Treatment Plant at Nunwan Base Camp, were completed well in time and particular attention given to ensure that all solid and liquid wastes are effectively treated before disposal.
Later, at a meeting at the Nunwan Base Camp, the Governor held discussions with Kifayat Hussain Rizvi, the outgoing Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag; Farooq Ahmad Shah, the incoming Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag; DIG and SSP Anantnag; SP (Traffic); EO, Municipal Committee, Pahalgam; and all the District and Divisional level officers of the Power, Public Health, Roads and Buildings, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Health, Veterinary, Labour, and the other concerned agencies. During this meeting, all the Yatra related arrangements by various Departments including the PHE, PDD, CAPD, Health, Tourism, Labour and Animal Husbandry were discussed in detail. He also issued instructions for the enforcement of an effective Access Control System at Nunwan and Chandanwari and effective traffic management.
Reviewing the Health related arrangements, the Governor instructed the CEO to timely co-ordinate with the Health Department and District Administration for provision of all required measures, particularly the placement of experienced and qualified Doctors at identified locations/Camps, positioning of ambulances at Chandanwari and provision of hard bed stretchers and oxygen cylinders in the Yatra area. He also gave instructions regarding proper arrangements being made for the evacuation and treatment of seriously sick pilgrims. He added that adequate arrangements need to be put in place for conducting postmortems and issuance of Death Certificates in the case of death of any Yatri.
The Governor asked the Power Development Department to ensure that power supply is immediately restored at Chandanwari and the DG sets are made operational at various forward Camps by 1st June so that the Meteorological Department and BSNL start installing their facilities.
Other arrangements that were discussed included deployment of Mountain Rescue Teams of the State Police at identified locations on the Yatra route; setting up of the Joint Control Rooms and Disaster Management Centres and their effective coordination with Meteorological Department; deployment of well equipped Fire Fighting Force units; public address system, provision of adequate number of X-Ray Baggage Scanning units; installation of CCTV cameras at important locations in the Yatra area.
The Governor was briefed by the Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag and CEO, Pahalgam Development Authority regarding the current status of snow melt and the action being taken for clearing the tracks of the frozen snows so that other arrangements by different departments could be put in place for the coming Yatra.
Vijay Kumar, DIG, Anantnag; Brig. V. Prasad, Sector Commander 1 RR; D. L. Gola, DIG, CRPF; Ramesh Kumar Jalla, SSP Anantnag; Preet Pal Singh, Additional CEO of the Shrine Board; Mir Altaf Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer, Pahalgam Development Authority; K.G. Bamba, GM (Works) SASB; and other Divisional and District officers were present on the occasion.
Further such review meetings are planned in the coming days to determine the earliest possible date for commencing the repair of facilities at the enroute Camps and for launching full-scale track clearance operations with a view to ensuring that all the Yatra-related arrangements are in position well ahead of the commencement of the pilgrimage.
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