BHUBANESWAR: With the weathermen forecasting a harsh and torrid summer this year, the state Housing and Urban Development (H&D) department has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for all civic bodies to take adequate precautionary measures to tackle the heatwave situation in the urban areas during the season.
Housing and Urban Development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra, who reviewed various preparedness of the urban local bodies (ULBs) in this regard, said on Friday that the municipal corporations, municipalities and NACs have been asked to activate round-the-clock control rooms in their jurisdiction to address public concerns over various issues like supply of drinking water and electricity, etc.
“There shouldn’t be any shortage of drinking water and people’s grievances should be resolved promptly. Water tankers should be deployed in all the water scarcity pockets as an emergency measure to ensure smooth supply of drinking water,” the minister directed, while asking H&UD officials to hire more tankers for the purpose, if needed. The department in its SOP stated that the heatwave warnings issued by IMD should be tracked on a regular basis and if necessary, control room of IMD/State EOC may be contacted for better coordination. The ULBs should start opening more number of water kiosks, while strict enforcement should be carried out against burning of municipal solid waste and garden residuals.
The ULBs were also asked to display heatwave alerts and precautionary measures at strategic points and ready their urban shelters and community buildings for their use as daytime shelters by the homeless and needy.
The department has also decided to rejuvenate and restore the water bodies and make them free from pollution for their use during summer. Awareness will also be generated to encourage households to keep one pot of water in front of their houses for stray birds and animals, the department officials said.