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| CM visits people in farthest snow bound areas | | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Feb 11
On the fifth consecutive day since the 'White Alarm' was sounded by heavy and widespread snowfall in Jammu & Kashmir, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today continued with his on-the-spot assessment of situation by visiting the affected areas to energise efforts for restoration of supplies and communication.
Mr. Azad visited the farthest areas in Udhampur, Doda and Kishtwar districts and met the snow-hit population at Goha-Marmat, Ghundana, Kilhotran, Changa, Dudu and Basantgarh to obtain direct feedback from the affected people. The habitations, perched in high mountains, sit at a height of 6000 to 9000 ft. He also visited Kishtwar where he received a briefing from the district administration.
The Chief Minister's personal touch with the situation in higher reaches has evoked appreciation of the local people as well as revitalized the administration's efforts to reach out to them in need. The areas are blanketed by thick snow, resulting in disruption of communication and supplies. At Kilhotran, while the Chief Minister was talking with the local people, it started snowing again due to which he could not visit Machail and Paddar, bordering Himachal Pradesh.
The Chief Minister said that the vagaries of weather had resulted in extreme problems to the people in all areas of the State but since the erstwhile district of Doda, now comprising Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts, was geographically a difficult and mostly unconnected area, the recent heavy snowfall had caused more hardship to local people. He said though many road projects had been initiated by the government but it would take few years to provide connectivity to all villages in these districts. He said the snowfall had also disrupted movement on the fewer roads that existed.
The Chief Minister said that the three districts along with the adjoining areas of Udhampur and Kathua districts were visited by a severe drought last year upon which the government had announced free ration for the affected people for three months. He said the free ration was only provided for the first month when the widespread and continuous snowfall hit the districts aggravating the difficulties of the people. He said more than anything else, it was now important to provide ration to people in these areas. He said the focus was now on to reopen the link roads in the three districts to ensure restoration of supplies.
Mr. Azad expressed concern over the situation in the districts of Kishtwar and Doda following snapping of road links and essential supplies. All the tehsil and block headquarters were cut off from the district headquarters and full restoration of the supply and communication network was likely to take some time. He said road connectivity of several blocks and niabats in Ramban, Udhampur and Reasi districts was also snapped. Given this scenario, he asked his Principal Secretary, Anil Goswami to take an emergency meeting of the concerned administrative secretaries and senior officers to ensure immediate restoration of utility services. The meeting was subsequently held in which timeline was set for restoration of communication and supply network in the affected areas.
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