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| Srinagar continues to be submerged as majority of dewatering pumps are non-functional | | Administrative mess at its 'best' | | Jehangir Rashid
SRINAGAR, Sept 18: At a time when dewatering is the prime responsibility of the authorities just a handful of pumps are functioning in the summer capital of the state. This has compounded the problems of the people instead of solving them.
Sources told Early Times that not more than 10 percent pumps are functioning in the Srinagar city and as such majority of the submerged areas continue to be inundated. Sources said that going by the present speed it would take days or even weeks together for the authorities to clear the water from inundated areas.
"Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has the prime responsibility of clearing the submerged areas. Out of 87 pumps only 10 pumps are operational in the summer capital while as the rest are either defunct or don't have the diesel to carry out the job. It means that round about 90 percent dewatering pumps are not working in Srinagar," said sources.
Sources said that pumping stations established by the Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) are also not functioning and this too has made mockery of the whole process of dewatering in the city. After their alleged failure in the drainage system the ERA authorities are being targeted by masses over their inefficiency in pumping out the flood water from the ravaged colonies and localities.
"If the dewatering pumps established by ERA would have been functional then there was a possibility that magnitude of the devastation could have been minimized. But that has not happened and the flood has virtually wreaked havoc across Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir valley," said sources.
At the same time protests broke out in the Tengpora locality here today against the government failure of clearing the areas that continue to be inundated after the recent ravaging floods that claimed hundreds of lives across Kashmir valley as well as Jammu region.
Eye witnesses told Early Times that hundreds of people belonging to different localities came out on the bye-pass connecting North Kashmir with Central Kashmir and subsequently the Jammu division. The protesters sat on dharna for hours together while demanding immediate de-watering of the areas submerged following the recent flood.
The protesters appeared on the scene near the Tengpora crossing and raised slogans against the government. The protesters said that 12 days have passed ever since the rains have stopped but still then the state government is yet to pump out the water from the submerged areas. They alleged that authorities have completely failed in mitigating the problems of people who have been badly affected by flood.
The people while carrying out the protests stopped the movement of traffic along the bye-pass thus leading to tremendous jam on the entire stretch connecting Parimpora with Pantha Chowk. The motorists and the passengers remained hostage for more than two hours since the protesters were not ready to give up on their claim.
It was only after intervention from some of the higher ups that the protesters gave in and lifted the 'siege' of the area. Although they were promised that the water would be cleared from the affected areas, but late night reports said that no such action has been taken so far. |
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