Incessant rainfall and inclement weather conditions earlierthis week triggered panic across Kashmir.
As Jhelum kept on swelling people started recollecting 2014horror and kept their fingers crossed. Authorities declaring a flood alert inSrinagar and south Kashmir added to anxiety. For time being flood scare is over but it can return anytime.
Kashmir witnessed the worst floods of the century in 2014September as most of the areas from south to north Kashmir were submerged. Morethan 250 people died and property worth crores was devastated.
Many people believe the Jammu and Kashmir government has notlearnt any lessons from its mistakes and not much work has been done to savethe Srinagar city from nature’s fury. May be for time being authorities havegot a breather but the flood threat is not over yet. This year Kashmirwitnessed one of the most wet winters. And during the past few months rainshave been lashing the Valley continuously. The threat of flood is very muchthere and the people at the helm cannot ignore this fact unless they decide toleave people to fend for themselves.
The administration has been claiming that it’s ready tohandle any situation and people need not worry. One hopes that the claims ofthe administration are true and not a mere lip service.
At present authorities are monitoring the situation and arehoping that the weather would become pleasant and sun would continue to shineas the nature only can tackle its fury. The Jhelum has been roaring since theday winters have ended. The dredging work of the river Jhelum which hadcommenced after 2014 floods missed many deadlines. It means that the carryingcapacity of the Jhelum has not increased and if the rains come again, we canonce again undergo the same torment which we witnessed nearly four and halfyears ago.
One fails to understand why the successive regimes have notcome up with a plan to prevent the Jhelum from overflowing. Four years is alongtime to come up with a strategy to tackle floods. People at the helm needto sit back and introspect what went wrong?
Situation in Kashmirhas become such that a few days of precipitation and rainfall is enough to makepeople believe that Jhelum waters can seep into their homes anytime. It seemsKashmir during the past few years has become more vulnerable than the coastalareas.
Experts are of the opinion that the Jammu and Kashmirgovernment needs to work on increasing the carrying capacity of the riverswhich flow through the Valley. If the government fails to come up with acomprehensive plan to deal with the flood like situation every year the day isnot far when entire Kashmir would be inundated again and the people at the helmwould have to cut a sorry figure.
In 2014, when floods inundated the Valley, the then ChiefMinister, Omar Abdullah, was caught napping as he couldn’t do much to keep hispeople safe. The elected representatives and the bureaucrats vanished soonafter the water levels increased in Kashmir in 2014. One of the major reasonsfor NC’s debacle in the 2014 Assembly polls was its failure to handle theSeptember floods. People who came out to vote were angry with the then OmarAbdullah led government. The Peoples Democratic Party, which encashed the angeragainst the then NC led coalition government in the state, couldn’t do muchduring its tenure to make at least the Srinagar city safe. Many flood channelsacross Srinagar have turned into garbage dumping sites and have very lesscapacity to hold the water.
The people who are running the state at present need to wakeup rather than just act as mute spectators. They cannot just run away fromtheir responsibilities by blaming their predecessors. Jammu and Kashmir hasbeen directly under Centre’s rule for the past nine months. Common man wasunder the impression the New Delhi’s rule would mitigate his sufferings and theCentre’s rule would prove to be the game changer for the state. It seems notmuch has changed and the situation continues to be grim.
(Javaid Malik is Senior Editor Greater Kashmir)