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| As winter knocks at door in Kashmir, flood affected people perturbed over future | | Damaged houses cause concern among inhabitants | | Jehangir Rashid
SRINAGAR, Sept 29: As the winter season is knocking at the doors in Kashmir valley lakhs of people who have been affected by the recent devastating flood are looking for a shelter so that they could save themselves from the vagaries of weather.
Since lakhs of houses have caved across Kashmir valley the people who used to live in these houses are up against many odds. As the state government has not taken any worthwhile step for their rehabilitation the affected people are at crossroads regarding their future. They are in a dilemma about their future with the things looking bleak at the present moment.
"My three storey house is in flood water for the past 24 days and going by the speed of dewatering it would take many more days before the area is cleared. The house has become unsafe and corrective measures have to be taken before we shift to our house. The state government is playing hide and seek as far as rehabilitation of flood affected people is concerned," said Aijaz Ahmad, a resident of Rajbagh.
Aijaz said that government should dewater the area at the earliest so that the families affected by flood shift to their native locality and think about the future course of action. He said the delay in dewatering is aggravating the civic woes of the inhabitants more so as winter is approaching.
"The houses that have been completely damaged have to be rebuilt and the standing ones too are unsafe. Most of the houses have developed cracks and they can crumble at any point of time. The government should take up the rehabilitation process on war footing basis so that before onset of winter affected people have some shelter over their head," said Sarfaraz Ahmad, a resident of Bemina.
Residents of the areas where dewatering has been completed are also aghast over the government inaction in taking up the rehabilitation process. They said that they are forced to live in tents provided by Non Governmental Agencies (NGOs) on the roadside where they are prone to various eventualities.
"The state government should identify some place in the city outskirts where tented accommodation can be provided to the flood affected people of the Srinagar district. Similar parameters can be applied to the people affected by flood in the other districts of Kashmir valley. Alas! The people at helm are yet to awake from slumber and one wonders how much more time they will take," said Mohammad Ahsan, a resident of Ikhrajpora.
The flood affected people said the erection of tented colony would be a temporary arrangement and this will be winded up once the reconstruction or repairs of damaged houses is completed. These people feared that they might have to live under open sky during the winter as the state government is adopting lackadaisical attitude in the rehabilitation of flood affected people.
It would be in place to mention here that state government had announced Rs. 75,000 would be paid as interim relief to families whose houses have been damaged either completely or partially. However, as on date the said amount has been paid to handful of families in South Kashmir while as the majority have been left out. |
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