With the onset of Monsoon season, the district administration has embarked on a programme to ward off threats of flash flood in the city. A meeting was held in this regard by the deputy commissioner of East Singhbhum Amitabh Kaushal on Monday.
During the meeting he directed the officials of various departments to carry out cleanliness of various localities, culverts, drains and other parts of the city so that there is no fear of water clogging.The DC has ordered that the low-lying areas situated close to the Swarnarekha and Kharkai rivers should be earmarked so that preventive action may be taken in case of heavy rains and flooding of such areas.
Areas like CP Tola, Somai Jhopri and Baroda Ghat areas of Bagbera, Shiv Ghat, Gari Nawaz Colony and Islam Nagar localities in Jugsalai, Kunwar Basti, Old Purulia Road, Sankosai and Hadi Godam (near Kabirnagar) areas of Mango are the worst hit.
The DC has ordered to focus on these areas this time.The meeting was attended by the special officers of all three municipal bodies, Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), Mango Notified Area Committee (MNAC) and Jugsalai Municipality.
It may be mentioned that the torrential rain coupled with opening of gates of two dams by Odisha and heavy rains and floods in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha flooded Jamshedpur in June 2008 and brought life to a standstill.
However this time administration is planning to take preventive measures pre-hand so that horrors of the flood are not repeated. The administration is working on plans to ensure safety and better flood management system during the monsoon season. “We will also streamline the functioning of Disaster Management Cell. Though the downpour has stopped, giving a sigh of relief to the people but threat of flood still looms large in Chandil, Ichagarh and low-lying areas of adjoining localities, as the water level reaches the danger level everytime,” said an official.
Meanwhile, the meteorological department has withdrawn the heavy rainfall warning from Jharkhand as the depression moved to Chhattisgarh.
“Monsoon is active over Jharkhand which will result in widespread rains. But, it won’t rain heavily,” said an official of the Patna Meteorological Office.