BHUBANESWAR: The development commissioner and additional chief secretary (ACS) of the Water Resources Department Anu Garg has directed officials to revisit shortcomings in dealing with floods last year and remain prepared for the upcoming floods and cyclones. Garg, who reviewed pre-flood and cyclone preparedness, asked engineers to ensure the condition of the gates/sluice gates remains in order to manage flood and water level in reservoirs is maintained after the floodwater is released.
Officials were also advised to remain vigilant and check the condition of roads and embankments. The damaged ones should be repaired so that the roads are motorable for the transportation of essential commodities and the movement of the public. The state has 7,473.206 km of embankments under various water resources divisions, of which 1,635.945 km is saline.
Discussions were held on the status of gates and sluice gates along with the weak and vulnerable points in different rivers and reservoir embankments. As decided in the meeting, the flood control room at Secha Sadan will function round-the-clock from June 1 to October 31.
Similarly, the control rooms will remain operational in the division and circle offices under the supervision of chief engineers. The chief engineers have been asked to be in touch with their counterparts in the neighbouring states to know the amount of inflow of water to different reservoirs during the monsoon and floods.
The ACS also advised imparting training to newly appointed junior engineers in DoWR on how to patrol during floods at the field level and manage the floods and cyclones. Engineer-in-chief of DoWR Bhakta Ranjan Mohanty said the status of large and medium water reservoirs in the state is good this year. “Based on our model of flood management, we will be able to successfully manage the possible floods and cyclones in the coming days,” he added.