The State Governor recently chaired a high level meeting toreview status of Jhelum protection works and response mechanism. The officersinformed him about the progress of various works. However, the emphasis hasbeen on the response mechanism rather than on the most urgent and the basicrequirement of flood prevention in future. The last flood in 2014 was the mostdisastrous in almost a century. That flood vividly demonstrated that any amountof preparations would be of no use as it is impossible to predict the extentand the devastative force of such floods. Of course one has to be prepared toface any eventuality but the moot point is why not to take possible measures toavoid such floods in future. Well, the Central Water Power Commission hadprepared a comprehensive plan through the concerned agencies for totalmitigation of the future floods. The plan was in phases and as per theinformation given in the meeting the phase I has been almost completed. Thephase II is yet to be sanctioned by the Central Water Power Commission. Fiveyears have elapsed since the last flood. It had been given out in the StateAssembly in writing in response to question asked by a member that theimplementation of the various phases of the flood prevention project is being takenon war footing. Forget the phase II which is the most important part of theproject, even the phase I has not been implemented as envisaged in the plan.Discussing plans in a meeting hall and watching power presentations isdifferent than seeing the progress on the ground. Just a visit along the banksof the flood spill over channel from its start would show what type ofhaphazard dredging has been done! The dredging is not only taking out earth orsand but it has to give a gradient to ensure faster flow of water. In fact, theentire Jhelum from Sangam to Baramulla needs to be given a gradient enablingfaster flow of water. Apart from this all the flood basins of the River need tobe reclaimed and cleared. Same holds good for the water bodies which have totallydisappeared due to encroachment. Now that the government appears serious aboutimplementing various flood mitigation plans, it is imperative that a high levelcommittee preferably under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary isconstituted to monitor the progress of the plan at least on a monthly basis. Inthe alternative some relevant consultancy could be hired to monitor theprogress on the ground on a time bound basis. In fact, the Civil Society alsoneeds to get involved to ensure monitoring of various plans on the ground. Inthe meantime, one has to pray that similar climatic condition do not developwhich resulted in 2014 flood though the chances of that happening arefrighteningly high due to global climate change!
Flood Mitigation Plan
