Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday reviewed the snow clearance operations and progress on restoration of essential services in the wake of snowfall in the Valley.
Omar asked government officials to brave the weather vagaries courageously and face the challenges of nature with a missionary zeal to relieve the people from the difficulties imposed on them by the heavy snowfall.
He said the high spirit of responsiveness by the administration to public call at the hour of need is of paramount importance and denotes the dutifulness of government functionaries.
The Chief Minister chaired a high level meeting here this afternoon to ascertain the progress on restoration of essential services like road communication, power and water supply, availability of edibles and fuel, healthcare facilities and other services of emergency nature.
Omar impressed upon the officers to put in all efforts in mitigating difficulties caused by the heavy snowfall reportedly highest ever in the month of January during last ten years.
"You should monitor the restoration process thoroughly and have personal appraisal of the ground situation by visiting various areas, interacting with people and ascertaining their needs," he said.
He also directed for timely installation and operationalisation of dewatering pumps in low lying areas so that people do not face problems due to the melting of snow.
The Chief Minister asked the concerned departments to keep
constant vigil over black-marketers, hoarders and unscrupulous traders who utilize such situations to create false scarcity of commodities and indulge in price hiking and profiteering.
He asked the officers to ensure smooth service delivery in Government Hospitals as also availability of life saving medicines in health institutions and in the market.
"Work on war-footing is needed to restore the basic services and accessibility of all areas," he said directing the officers of power department to focus on full restoration of power supply in the affected areas as soon as possible.
