Daily Times

On the direction of Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, a high powered cabinet committee on Friday reviewed the arrangements made in the wake of snow falling in Murree and took necessary decisions accordingly.

Provincial Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Environment Protection and Cooperatives Muhammad Basharat Raja presided over the meeting while Chief Secretary Punjab Abdullah Khan Sumbal, Additional Chief Secretary Home Captain (retd) Asadullah, Commissioner, RPO Rawalpindi and Deputy Commissioner Murree also attended the meeting.

Basharat Raja said that New Year’s night, weekend and snowfall events were expected together in Murree so all arrangements should be completed keeping this situation in mind.

It was decided in the meeting that the management committee under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Murree would sit in the control room established in the city and take necessary decisions. It was also decided that vehicles exceeding the decided number would be discouraged from entering Murree. Basharat Raja expressed satisfaction that 13 facility centers had been set up in Murree which would be connected to the central control room.

He said that stranded tourists could contact helpline 051-9269015 and 051-9269016. “These phone numbers can be contacted in case of getting stuck in snow or facing difficulty in accommodation”, he said. He said that the number of fork lifters and traffic police force had been increased in Murree.

Raja Basharat appealed to the tourists to follow the advisory issued by the government. “Full information will be provided to the tourists at the places where diversions have been arranged,” he added. On this occasion, Chief Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal while directing the Highways Department to keep the roads clear said that the district administration should conduct a continuous awareness campaign on media and keep in touch with the hotel association Murree. He said that the tourism squad would also be deployed to support the district administration.

Additional Chief Secretary Home Captain (retd) Asadullah briefed the meeting that PDMA had transferred 10 million rupees to Commissioner Rawalpindi’s account so that there was no problem in emergency arrangements. He pointed out that since the district administration of Murree was comparatively new so all government departments should cooperate for better results. The Cabinet Committee also approved the nomination of 579 price magistrates across the Punjab while consideration was given to linking private CCTV cameras with the Safe Cities Authority in Lahore. Raja Basharat said that private cameras should also be used to prevent crimes. The meeting approved to give Shuhada Fund to two martyred jawans of Border Military Police Dera Ghazi Khan, namely Sajjad Hussain and Muhammad Tahir.