Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis on Saturday directed the officials to take measures necessary to deal with problems arising from monsoon next month. She was chairing a meeting on precautionary and relief measures to be taken for monsoon at the District Offices Complex, here.
Ms. Francis said that there was artificial flooding owing to the widening works of the National Highway 66 during the last monsoon. She directed the officials of the National Highways Authority of India to take measures to ensure that such a kind of artificial flooding did not occur this time. She also directed them to submit a report on the measures taken to check artificial flooding. She suggested the formation of a Monsoon Task Force to the NHAI. The widening works were still on at Padubidri and other places and from Kundapur to Shiroor. Measures should be taken to prevent accidents on the stretches where the widening works were on, she said.
Ms. Francis said that the Forest Department should remove trees which were on the verge of falling and those trees which were dead, especially close to the roads. Assistant Conservator of Forests Achappa explained the measures taken by the department.
Ms. Francis directed the officials of the Fire and Emergency Services to take the help of private divers, if necessary, during emergencies. The district administration would provide money from the calamities fund for measures related to monsoon, she said, adding that control rooms will be opened at the district-level and at the three taluks, she said.
Though the summer heat was at the peak in the district, some areas had received rainfall. She directed the officials of the Health Department to take measures to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.
She also directed the officials of the transport and the public instruction departments to hold a meeting to ensure that the Supreme Court’s guidelines on transporting children to schools through vehicles were fully followed so that there was no untoward incidents of any kind during the monsoon, she said.
The Departments of Fisheries, Minor Irrigation, and Public Works should take necessary precautionary measures in low-lying areas, bridges, vented dams, river banks, and coastline. Caution signs should be erected near quarry pits. The Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd. has been directed to look into fencing of quarry pits, she said.
The National Disaster Relief unit will be holding a mock demonstration on disaster preparedness in Udupi district from May 18 to 31, Ms. Francis said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner G. Anuradha and other district-level officials were present.
