Jammu, Feb 5 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Saturday approved the purchase of advanced snow clearance machinery that does not cause damage to roads, an official spokesperson said here.

The state executive committee, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary A K Mehta, approved the purchase of Rs 78.50 crore worth advanced machinery, including snow vehicles, ploughs, cutters, and front-end loaders, he said.

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The traditional snow clearance machinery being used has been eroding the metalled road surface, necessitating repairs every year, the official said.

Earlier, to address this concern, the chief secretary had ordered the formation of a high-level committee for formulation of a standard operating procedure for snow clearance with a focus on reducing damage to the roads.

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The committee considered various options and suggested purchase of modern machinery to ensure scientific snow clearance and checking recurrent repairs towards long term maintenance of quality roads in snow-bound areas of the Union territory, the spokesman said.

He said the committee had pointed out that introduction of high-end machinery would lead to savings on a long-term basis, besides reducing the need of frequent major repairs.

Further, the committee approved Rs 3.82 lakh for conducting four non-residential training courses on different themes of disaster management to promote general education and awareness on vulnerability and mitigation of disasters.

It also approved release of funds to district administrations for meeting emergency expenditures on account of disaster management, relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction, the spokesperson said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)