The government has taken flood-mitigation and other measures in view of the onset of the northeast monsoon, PWD Minister A. Namassivayam said on Monday.
The Minister, who chaired an inter-departmental consultative meeting, said the Public Works Department, the Local Administration Department and the Municipalities of Puducherry and Oulgaret were consulted on the measures that needed to be put in place to cope with rains.
All canals in Puducherry had been dredged. In case of any blockage, repairs would be undertaken immediately. Control rooms had been set up for the public to report problems, Mr. Namassivayam said.
Puducherry had so far received 78.5 cm of rainfall, and measures were in place to prevent hardships once the monsoon strengthened in the next few days, he said. Additionally, generators were on standby in all reservoirs to provide uninterrupted drinking water in the event of a power outage. The PWD had also kept the equipment ready to remove fallen trees as quickly as possible.
The public could immediately report any damage to the control rooms in each area. Officials were instructed to attend to distress calls expeditiously. Roads in some places were in disrepair, and they would be repaired only after the rains subsided, Mr. Namassivayam said.
