D K Rattan is a much harassed man these days.
The Rampur sub-divisional magistrate has no time for his family or relatives ever since he has been put in charge of relief and rescue operations in case the artificial lake in Tibet spills over and floods this small town
"As you can see I am sitting in my office even on a holiday. I have been on my job since July 25 when the first reports about formation of the artificial lake in Parchu river in Tibet started coming in. But the real work began in the first week of August," Rattan told rediff.com
Rattan, senior police officers and medical personnel have charted out an action plan, which they hope they wouldn't have to implement.
"Our area is spread over one hundred kilometers and we have divided into four zones. In case of contigency we would blow sirens and broadcast messages for the local residents so that they could be shifted to safer places," he said.
'We have installed an alert system in Lapsa, the entry point of water in India. The moment water is discharged from the artificial lake the team deputed there would give us signals through phone calls. This would give us four hours of time to rescue the people of Rampur," he added.
He is taking the assistence of local municipal corporators, village heads and non-governmental organisations to put his plans into action.
"In year 2000 when there were flash floods in Sutlej the water level rose to 25 metres. We have already evacuated people who were living in the danger zone. We have divided the area into three danger zones. Red Zone, Yellow Zone and Green Zone. We are concentrating on the Red Zone because the other two zones are above 25 metre level," he said.
The Indian Army, Indo-Tibetab Border Police, Home Guards and the state police are also assisting the administration in Rampur.