The State level meeting on Monsoon Preparedness was held at Secretariat Conference on 4th June 2020 under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio with the Cabinet Ministers, Advisors, Chief Secretary, other senior government officials.
The objective of the meeting was to get prepared for the natural calamities that may happen because of the Monsoon and take preventive measures in the event of any eventuality thereby averting the loss of lives and properties from the fury of natural calamities.
In the meeting, OSD NSDMA, Johny Ruangmai gave a briefing on Monsoon Preparedness with reference to previous year's experiences and how the NSDMA and other line departments responded to the situations.
Engineer-in-Chief NPWD, Er. Limatongdang Jamir gave a detailed status of all the district roads through a power point presentation. He said with the onset of Monsoon, roads connecting inter-districts, towns and villages in all the 24 divisions of the state have been getting affected by landslides, mudslides, subsidence etc. However, with the active participation and concerted efforts of the department, damaged roads have been connected and restored for traffic in all the districts with the help of machineries.
The Chief Minister complemented the Department and also advised the Department for advance placement of funds to the concerned authority in the district so as to take preventive measures quickly without wasting time. He also asserted that coordination between District Administration, PWD and DDMA is important in order to address the issues occurring due to natural calamities.
On many migrant labourers engaged in road construction activities going out of the State due to Covid-19 pandemic leading to stoppage of works, Chief Minister Rio said that the concerned road construction agencies should make efforts to bring back skilled labourers and workers following the provisions of the SOP of the State in this regard and ensure resumption of all such stalled works. He also emphasized on getting over the shortage of skilled manpower by providing training to local manpower already available here so that their services could be used for handing various kinds of machineries and equipment.
Urban Development Department and Home Guards & Civil Defense Departments also gave power point presentation regarding Monsoon Preparedness. Based on their presentations, Chief Minister suggested to the concerned Departments to jointly inspect the roads, see how waters flow in the drainages during monsoon, especially during heavy rains, and see where it has been made to clog or stagnant thereby obstructing the free flow of waters so that appropriate preventive action could be taken.
During the meeting the preparedness of Agri and Allied Departments, and the Food and Civil Supplies Department for ensuring the availability of essential food items and commodities were also deliberated.
The Chief Minister while expressing overall satisfaction on the preparedness plans made by the Departments, asked for continued efforts so as to further improve the plans and make it more resilient and comprehensive.
(NongozoRikha, APRO)
