Virudhunagar Collector N.O. Sukhaputra has instructed officials to identify the areas prone to flooding and keep ready with relief centres for providing safe accommodation for people who would be affected during South West monsoon.

He was chairing a meeting of officials from various departments on taking precautionary measures ahead of the South West monsoon here on Tuesday.

The Collector said that law and order should be maintained during the times of natural calamities in order to provide safety to the members of public.

Efforts should be taken to swiftly clear traffic jams created by uprooting of trees.

The Collector also asked the officials to conduct mock drills to create awareness among the public.

All the Block Development Officers should inspect minor irrigation tanks and remove the wild growth that obstruct free flow of floodwater.

Similarly, encroachments in minor irrigation tanks, ‘ooranies’, ponds, and open wells should be removed. The officials should also attend to cracks and breaches in the waterbodies to prevent flooding in residential areas.

The officials should keep adequate stock of sandbags and gunny bags to carry out repair works.

Similarly, the Water Resources Department should keep ready with contact numbers of operators of earth movers and other heavy vehicles.

All required machineries and heavy vehicles should be kept ready for immediate restoration of roads that get breached by flood.

Similarly, the officials should keep adequate stocks of essential goods like rice, pulses, kerosene, gunny bags and other food grains.

Adequate strength of workforce should be kept ready.

The Collector said that the ration shops should have all goods adequately stocked. Similarly, availability of kerosene and cooking gas cylinders should be ensured.

Preventive and life-saving medicines and drugs to control infectious diseases should be made available in all the hospitals.

Medical teams should be kept ready in all areas. Ambulances and generators should be kept in working condition.

TNEB officials have been instructed to ensure proper maintenance of overhead electric cables and transformers.

Sufficient numbers of vehicles should be kept ready to operate them to the relief centres from the marooned areas.

District Revenue Officer R. Ananthi, Sivakasi Sub-Collector Mohammed Irfan, Project Officer (District Rural Development Agency) V. Kesavadasan, were among those who were present at the review meeting.