Secretary in-charge of Udupi Manoj Jain on Friday asked the Udupi district administration to be ready for responding to emergency situations during monsoon in cases of floods and heavy rains.
Chairing a meeting in Udupi he asked the administration to identify the flood prone areas in advance and take all precautionary measures to face the situation.
He said that tahsildars, Panchayat Development Officers, and other officials concerned should ensure that there was no blockage in the areas where rivers joined the sea.
In case of a possible flood situation, the officials should alert the people in advance and make arrangements to shift them for safety and provide them basic facilities at relief camps. The tahsildars and PDOs should monitor the monsoon situation on daily basis, he said.
Mr. Jain said that forest department and other department officials should take necessary measures to prune branches of trees or to remove such trees which can pose danger to the life of people in cases of heavy breeze. In case if there was delay in getting permission from the forest department for removing trees in advance, post-facto approval should be obtained, he said.
The Secretary said that the community halls should be kept ready for shifting people in case of emergency. An audit of community halls in the district should be conducted. In case if there were loss of life the compensation to the families should be paid within 24 hours of the incidents and reports on them should also be ready during that period.
The administration should also identify such buildings which are in poor condition and on which people lived for shifting them to safety.
He asked the administration to open a control room which should function round the clock during the monsoon to respond to the complaints of people. The staff of the control room should be trained enough.
All departments should keep their action plans ready by May 31, he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of zilla panchayat H. Prasanna, the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Kundapur division, Ashish Reddy and others were present.
