Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu in a high level meeting reviewed the arrangements made for restoration of vehicular traffic, electricity, water supply and supply of essential commodities in different parts of the State that had been affected due to snowfall.
It was informed in the meeting that Chamba district was the most affected due to snowfall besides some areas of Shimla district. However, effective steps were afoot to bring normalcy by restoration of transport, electricity, water supply services etc. in different areas. The road had been opened for traffic upto Banikhet and was likely to be opened upto Chamba by today evening for which the work was in progress. All the buses for Delhi were plying as usual from yesterday afternoon from Shimla. Buses for Rohru, Theog and Chopal are not plying due to heavy snowfall, however, a bus to Chopal via Poanta has been sent today. For Rampur and Kinnaur, buses were being sent via Dhami and Basantpur. The road upto Patalikul in Kullu district is through and would be made through upto Manali by today. The bus services in Shimla town has also been restored.
In Mandi district the road for Barot, Jhatingri and Karsog is yet to be restored for which the work is in progress. Chief Secretary directed to take precautionary measures like spreading sand at slippery/ dangerous points for smooth plying of vehicles to avoid any untoward incidents. She also directed the State Electricity Board to restore electricity in Chamba district and other areas of the State to avoid any inconvenience to the people at the earliest.
Sandhu directed the Deputy Commissioners that essential commodities be made available to the people in the areas which were cut off at present and also advised the people to keep stock of essential commodities to avoid shortage in future and to meet-out such situations especially from 15th to 17th January, the dates on which the Met Department had forecasted snowfall in the State. She said that BSNL should also keep storage of diesel in such areas where electricity supply is affected due to snowfall to run the telecommunication services. She said that Chamba, Kinnaur districts and some other parts of the State had been affected due to breakdown of telecommunication services which should be restored at the earliest. Rajwant Sandhu advised people to take precautions while commuting on routes which had been cleared and wait till the plying of vehicles on such routes till they become fully safe.
Reviewing the traffic and other arrangements in Shimla, she directed the Deputy Commissioner to take special precautions in some dangerous points for plying vehicles in the suburbs of Shimla particularly Shogi, Danda etc. so that people do not face any inconvenience due to traffic jam and slippage of vehicles. She also directed to take necessary steps to avoid traffic jam at Kufri where tourists visit in large number specially on week ends and also guide tourists to take safe measures while travelling in snowbound areas.
