Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta chaired a meeting of the Executive Committee for Disaster Management to review the requirement of funds in districts for disaster preparedness, mitigation, and management.
Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department; Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department; Administrative Secretary, Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (DMRRR) and Special Secretary, Revenue Department participated in the meeting.
The UT Executive Committee approved the release of Rs. 28.56 crore through BEAMS, to the Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu divisions and the Deputy Commissioners of all Districts for providing relief on account of natural calamities, during current financial year, as per the SDRF guidelines. Besides, sanction was also accorded to the purchase of one 4X4 emergency rescue vehicles by each District Disaster Management Authority to facilitate rescue during extreme weather conditions and in far flung areas especially in hilly terrains.
To ensure transparent and accountable disbursement of relief amount among the victims of disasters and undertaking necessary disaster-prevention and mitigation measures as per norms, the Chief Secretary directed all Deputy Commissioners to adhere to SDRF and NDRF guidelines while incurring expenditure. The Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Department was also asked to share the revised guidelines in the matter with all Divisional and District Development Commissioners.
Regarding extending the reach of emergency assistance for prompt response and relief, the Disaster Management Department was asked to make optimal use of technology in communications to connect the disaster prone areas especially the hilly-terrain and far-flung difficult-to-reach places.
The committee approved payments for maintaining VSAT terminals in the key emergency operation centres at Srinagar, Pulwama and Budgam. The Department was also asked to extend assistance to communication services through satellite telephones in areas without connectivity during important events.