Considering the safety of those coming to Uttarakhand for trekking, the additional chief secretary Radha Raturi has directed officials to prepare an effective trekking policy or standard operating procedure in the State. She also instructed the Labour department to make arrangements to provide relief to workers at construction sites from the cold. Raturi issued these directions while reviewing arrangements made by the government for winter conditions in the State.
Chairing the meeting with officials here on Thursday, Raturi said that in addition to preparing a trekking policy or SOPs, the system of registration for trekking agencies and companies should be improved further. She further instructed that the divisional forest officers should mandatorily share information about the tourists arriving for trekking with the district administration and police. The district magistrates were directed to establish coordination with the divisional forest officers, Tourism department and eco-tourism wing for this purpose. She made it clear that if the trekking SOPs are not implemented on time, the Forest department will be directly responsible and face action in case of any incident involving lapse in the safety of trekkers in the State. The additional chief secretary directed the Forest department to implement concrete SOPs for trekking agencies along with facilitating safety standards, insurance, trained guides, snow equipment, health certificate and basic medicine for trekkers without delay.
Reviewing arrangements made by the State administration for possible cold wave conditions in the State, Raturi directed the Labour department to make necessary arrangements without delay to provide relief to the workers in need at construction sites. In view of the risk of road traffic accidents due to dense fog, she directed the police and traffic police to remain alert especially in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts. The additional chief secretary also directed the Fire Services to complete all necessary arrangements to prevent fire incidents. The officials were also directed to make a portal for collection and distribution of the warm clothing donated to help those in need. The officials of the Public Works Department were directed to maintain the connectivity of roads, arrange for mechanical excavators and utilise traditional and new solutions to remove frost from the roads. The additional chief secretary further directed that bonfires/wood stoves should be arranged at selected public places in all the districts, warm blankets should be distributed to the needy, power and water supply along with beds and sanitation should be ensured in all temporary shelters and that a separate nodal officer should be appointed for this purpose. Food supply, drinking water and fuel supply should be stored in all the districts to last till the end of January. Emergency services for medical health should also be ensured, she said. Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha and officials of various departments concerned were also present in the meeting.
