 Jehangir Rashid
Srinagar, Sept 17: Two weeks after the devastating flood hit the Kashmir valley many localities of summer capital continued to be submerged in water with the dewatering going on at snail's pace in few of them while in majority the dewatering is yet to start.
In the summer capital important commercial areas like Lal Chowk, Abi Guzar, Regal Chowk, Maulana Azad Road, Exchange Road, Palladium Lane, Residency Road, Ghanta Ghar, Budshah Chowk, Maisuma, Gaw Kadal, Aftab Market, Court Road, Jawahar Nagar, Rajbagh, Kursoo Rajbagh, Karan Nagar, Balgarden, Suthrashahi, Magharmal Bagh, Sarie Bala, Hari Singh High Street, Jehangir Chowk, Exhibition Crossing, Hazuri Bagh, Lal Mandi and Wazir Bagh continue to be inundated with flood water.
At the same time areas like Sonwar, Shivpora, Batwara, Indira Nagar, Bemina, Qamarwari, Hilalabad, MIG Colony, HIG Colony, Hamdania Colony, Nundreshi Colony, Owaisabad, Firdousabad, Bonapora, Mominabad, Kursoo Padshahi Bagh, Mehjoor Nagar, Eidgah, Firdous Colony and Narwara continue to be inundated with flood water.
Thousands of people living in these areas are reeling under severe crisis and there is no plan from the government to provide relief to these affected people. Higher ups of the state government are yet to reach the affected people. Going by the present speed it may take weeks together for the state government to reach the affected people and provide them relief.
"I had gone to visit my friend who is stranded in the Kursoo Rajbagh area for the past two weeks or so. I could not reach him since the area continues to be under the water. I just got the message from his neighbour that he is safe. The government is doing nothing to dewater the area and as such people continue to suffer," said Mukhtar Ahmad, a resident of Baghat.
Mukhtar said that he walked along the bund and virtually found no life whatsoever in the areas which used to bubble with people and the activities being carried out by them. He was quite upset with the fact that no dewatering pump was found in the areas which he passed by. He alleged that people have been left to die by the state government with no plan in store.
Shabir Ahmad, a resident of Gaw Kadal told Early Times that the government is resorting to conventional methods of dewatering in this age of technology. He said that need of the hour is that heavy dewatering pumps are put into place so that the areas inundated due to flood are cleared.
"Instead of putting in place the latest machinery the concerned authorities are looking for some sort of gap so that the water is discharged into river Jhelum via that gap. It is quite possible that they might cut some portion of road or bridge for this purpose. Until that happens people would have to suffer as they have been over the past couple of weeks," said Shabir.
It would be in place to mention here that Union Urban Development Minister Nitin Gadkari had recently said that 14 highly sophisticated sewerage pumps would be used for clearing the flood water from the inundated areas. However, out of these 14 pumps only one pump has been found working with the rest 13 yet to reach the flood ravaged Kashmir valley. |
