Udaipur has been witnessing pockets of extreme heat this summer and this weather anomaly is also being felt in other cities in Rajasthan and other states as well. Residents as well as Industrial areas of the district are facing a power crisis as well as potable water crisis.

The Collector of Udaipur, Arvind Poswal, held a review meeting on Wednesday, 22 May, to take stock of the concerns related to Power Supply, Potable Water Supply as well as administrative control on seasonal diseases in view of the extreme heat wave. He added that the next couple of weeks will be a challenge in terms of providing potable water as well as continous power supply. In his address and instructions, he emphasised that the responsible officers and department should work with a higher level of seriousness and sincerity to ensure that there is no negligence in providing relief to the residents, during this peak period of a punishing summer. He added that while continuous monitoring is being done from the highest level to ensure smooth supply of drinking water and electricity, the departments and its officers will need to work with more caution.

Water Supply

The Collector, in his review meeting instructed that department officials should continuously visit the field and keep an eye on the situation and ensure necessary arrangements as per the pre-determined action plan. Poswal collated information from PHED and Water Resources Department officials about the availability of water in the water sources of the district, the situation in the future etc. He also instructed to keep the entire team ready to deal with any situation and ensure continuous potable water supply. He listened to information about the progress of the third and fourth phase of the Dewas project and gave necessary guidelines.

Power Supply

While responding to the failing power supply across the district, Ajmer Discom's Superintendent Engineer Bhavani Shankar Sharma informed that due to increase in load, the Chittor-Debari feeding line is facing problems. To maintain the demand and supply of electricity, efforts are being made to maintain the system by shifting up to 50 percent load in industrial units in the evening, so that there is no problem in the urban (residential) areas. Due to increase in load and heat, incidents like burning of transformers due to heat and line tripping are taking place and also due to minor technical problems in the lines. He added that the department is taking every possible effort to resolve these problems immediately.

He also expressed the need for 440 KV grid station in the district. Taking information regarding sub-division wise electricity supply, the District Collector said that the entire team should be ready and there should be prompt response to the complaints of the residents. Efforts should be made to satisfy people by giving a patient hearing to their complaints and explanations on technical problems. He also talked about discussing the ongoing problem regarding the feeding line with high level officials.

Provision of drinking water and cooler fans in hospitals

Arvind Poswal took stock of the health department and collated information from the Chief Medical and Health Officer, Dr. Shankar Bamania, about the situation of seasonal diseases in the district, necessary arrangements in hospitals etc. He said that the department should ensure proper arrangements for drinking water and coolers and fans in all the medical institutions of the district. All the medical institutions of the district should be inspected to ensure that coolers, etc. in the wards are in working condition and there is provision of drinking water for the patients and their families. Besides, cleanliness of wards including toilets should also be ensured.