Clear roads in apple growing areas before the onset of season : Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

Shimla : Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu presided over a meeting of senior officers here today to review the ongoing restoration works caused by the flash floods and devastating rains in various parts of the State.
He directed the officers to clear the roads in apple growing areas before the onset of the season besides exploring the possibility of alternative routes to export apple produce from these areas.The Chief Minister also directed to keep Theog-Rampur, Theog-Hatkoti, Rampur-Kinnaur, Chhaila-Neripul and Oddi Rampur via Kotgarh roads functional with adequate deployment of men and machinery for the smooth passage of the traffic. He sanctioned Rs. 50 crore to the Public Works Department to purchase the machinery.
He said that it was expected that there would be about 2 crore apple boxes in the State during the current season which is less as compared to last year’s season due to adverse weather conditions.Sh. Sukhu said that the Superintending Engineer PWD would be the nodal officer for monitoring the smooth functioning of these roads and he would report on a daily basis to Principal Secretary PWD regarding status of roads.He said that there would be no paucity of funds for repairing the roads and PWD shall commence all the restoration works immediately.
The Chief Minister directed for the deployment of adequate police personnel in the key locations so that smooth plying of vehicles could be ensured during the apple season. He also spoke with the district administration of Mandi, Kullu, Solan, Kinnaur, Chamba and Sirmaur and took stock of the ongoing restoration works.
He told that four tourists have been rescued and brought to Bharmour. He further said that two lanes of Parwanoo-Shimla NH will be made functional in a couple of days to facilitate the commuters. He said that due to heavy landslides, 50 houses had been vacated in the Shamti area of Solan district. He directed to provide rupees one lakh each as immediate relief to the affected families.
He further said that Sainj road has been cleared for vehicles and efforts were afoot to open roads to Tirthan Valley at the earliest. He further directed all the district authorities to submit the status reports of the roads on a daily basis to the state authorities.
Sh. Sukhu directed the Forest Department to identify the number of trees damaged due to torrential rains and a report in this regard should be submitted to the government at the earliest.The Chief Minister also reviewed the drinking water availability in Shimla town and directed the authorities to maintain the proper supply of water to the residents.
He further said that with improvement of weather conditions, the functioning of lift water supply schemes was also improving. He said that on 13th July, 26.63 MLD water was lifted whereas on 14th July, 32.27 MLD water was lifted and distributed to the consumers.
He directed to submit a working plan within 15 days regarding various water supply schemes, number of storage tanks and their cleanliness status and officers responsible for overseeing these schemes.The Chief Minister said that a dam would be constructed on Ashwani khad at Junga for water lifting and design would be prepared by the Power Corporation.
Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar, Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, Education Minister Rohit Thakur, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Ashish Butail, Mohan Brakta, Sanjay Awasthy, Mayor Shimla Municipal Corporation Surender Chauhan, Deputy Mayor Uma Kaushal, Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Bharat Khera and other senior officers also attended the meeting among others.