YUPIA, Mar 3: Papum Pare SP T Amo has advised owners of picnic spots near the Pare River in Doimukh to take preventive measures to ensure that picnickers do not drown in the river when water is released by the Ranganadi Hydro Electric Project (RHEP).
The measures he suggested included maintaining a register of visitors entering a picnic spot; restricting entry of unauthorized persons; briefing picnic goers about the danger of drowning, especially in the afternoon and evening hours when water is released by the RHEP; and deploying private security personnel and swimming experts at the picnic spots.
He was addressing a meeting with picnic spot owners in his office here on Monday to discuss measures to prevent drowning, several cases of which have been reported at the picnic spots.
Amo also suggested to the picnic spot owners to keep locally available materials like bamboo rafts, inflated tubes or tyres, ropes, torch or search lights, etc, for rescuing.
He asked them to contact the police in these numbers: 03602284940 (district control room), 9436896472 (SP), 9402278796 (DSP), 8118940797 (Doimukh PS OC), and 883769904 (I/c Khola Camp).
The SP requested DDMO Tsering Youngzom to provide life-saving equipment like life jackets, rafts/motor boats, ropes,
search lights, etc, to the district police for use during the coming monsoon, and to erect sufficient warning signboards along the highway and at the entries of the picnic spots.
The picnic owners appealed to the administration to provide at least two life jackets to each of them, and asked the SP to provide regular patrolling at the picnic spots.
The SP had earlier sent a letter to the RHEP GM to install sirens/early warning system along the downstream side of the Pare river to alert the public when water is released from the reservoir.
