IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu issues call to Istanbul residents from AKOM: 'Pay attention to this evening and tomorrow morning'

Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (TBB) and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) President Ekrem İmamoğlu issued a call to Istanbul residents from AKOM and explained the measures taken against the snowfall.

İmamoğlu stated, "As in the fight against snow, winter, and other challenges, this is the time and place to state that our greatest strength is our citizens and their participation. I ask for a similar effort from my 16 million fellow Istanbul residents, both for this evening and especially for tomorrow morning. Even though the precipitation is described as intensifying and decreasing in certain regions, showing this sensitivity throughout all of Istanbul, and continuing to show it throughout the day tomorrow, will be beneficial in several ways."

İmamoğlu oversaw the efforts against the adverse weather conditions in Istanbul at the Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM). After receiving information from his staff and experts, İmamoğlu briefed Istanbul residents with the following summary:

“Due to the expected adverse weather conditions, intensive work is being carried out at AKOM, which has been on alert since 8:00 PM last night. Representatives from 22 units are following the needs of our Istanbul moment by moment here, and are making a great effort in cooperation to ensure our citizens have a healthy day. In this sense, in addition to IMM units; the effective and cooperative work of our institutions and organizations such as the Police, Gendarmerie, Highways, ICA, KMO, and IGA contributes to our people being able to move safely, especially at such moments. I would like to underline that every employee is working with great dedication. With the low temperatures, precipitation continued throughout the day. It is predicted that the precipitation will continue starting from the morning hours tomorrow, primarily in the European side and western regions, and then shifting slightly to the eastern region during the noon hours. A day as described by our meteorology experts here awaits us.

“PAY ATTENTION TO THIS EVENING AND TOMORROW MORNING”

They are mentioning a possibility of precipitation tonight, especially after 6:00 PM. We can mention that there will be precipitation towards the morning, specifically in Başakşehir, Büyükçekmece, Arnavutköy, Silivri, and Çatalca, while talking about the European side and western regions. Tomorrow afternoon, precipitation is expected in Şile, Kartal, Pendik, and Tuzla. It is predicted that these precipitations will rise to seasonal norms starting from Thursday, there will be no snowfall left, and as of Friday, according to our colleagues, there is a high probability that we will see the sun. Today, we observed that our Governor had schools closed in Esenyurt, Avcılar, Beykoz, Arnavutköy, Başakşehir, Sultangazi, Beylikdüzü, and Büyükçekmece due to heavy snowfall. There is no announcement regarding tomorrow yet. But I am sure our authorized civil administrators will make the necessary announcements in case of any adverse conditions that may arise.

SHARED INFORMATION REGARDING IMM'S TEAMS AND EQUIPMENT

I would like to state that 11,916 of our personnel are effectively on duty across the 4,140 kilometers within our responsibility network as IMM; 3,375 of our vehicles and construction machines are also on duty; especially during this time frame, 170 tractors are ready with snowplow attachments for village roads; our number of cranes and recovery vehicles is 48; and 44 vehicles and construction machines are kept ready for continuous scanning on the Metrobus route. I would like to state that between February 10-11, that is, until this morning, in the approximately 12-hour period since last night, 3,590 tons of salt and 13 tons of solution were consumed by the IMM. What I have said here, regarding the number of teams and such needs consumed, excludes the personnel numbers and consumption of the Highways, ICA, and KMO institutions.

“OUR GREATEST STRENGTH IS OUR CITIZENS”

I would like to express that in these periods when we all want winter to snow, when we want the seasons to go as normal, and when climate change deeply affects life, these types of precipitation actually make us feel that life is normalizing. As in the fight against snow, winter, and other challenges, this is the time and place to state that our greatest strength is our citizens and their participation. It should be noted that the fact that traffic is at 58 percent today, in an environment where it should be heavy, is possible thanks to our citizens using public transport instead of cars as much as possible, or by citizens who have the opportunity not going out as much as possible. I ask for a similar effort from my 16 million fellow Istanbul residents, both for this evening and especially for tomorrow morning... Of course, even though the precipitation is described as intensifying and decreasing in certain regions, showing this sensitivity throughout all of Istanbul, and continuing to show it throughout the day tomorrow, will be beneficial in several ways. First; it will reduce traffic density. But more importantly, it will allow our citizens and vehicles that will be involved in clearing, salting, and other activities and services during heavy snowfall to perform their duties more healthily and smoothly.

“THE BENEFITS OF SNOWFALL...”

I hope that such a multiple gain, along with our people having a healthy day, will also allow them to enjoy the snow in certain suitable areas. Of course, I would like to express with happiness here that the greatest benefit of the snowfall being this way is that it will both nourish our Istanbul's soil and agricultural areas and increase the occupancy rates in our dams to the highest level in terms of meeting our water needs. First of all, wishing for an evening and tomorrow without accidents, without trouble, and God forbid, without even a single person getting hurt, I wish all our citizens and fellow residents a good evening. At the same time, I wish healthy work to all our institutions and organizations, and to our fellow laborers and friends who put their efforts into this struggle in every unit of our state.”

News Source: 12punto