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Even in unprecedented floods, damages in Srinagar could have been minimized | | | Early Times Report srinagar, Oct 1: The final realization that Srinagar city, at least its once most posh areas, and many other areas in the Valley would never be the same is slowing dawning on the thousands of people who became victims of nature's anger on September 7. Most people in Srinagar city believed the flood waters are very slow rising waters and these do not cause any major damage to structures and goods other than keep them submerged for a while. Nobody could ever have imagined even in their wildest dreams that water would coming roaring to demolish everything that stood in its passage and submerge houses to their rooftops within a matter of a few hours. Compound walls in residential areas of Shivpora, Rajbagh, Jawahar Nagar, Wazirbagh, Gogjibagh, Bemina, Chanapora, Mehjoor Nagar, Karan Nagar and many other places have fallen as if these have been bulldozed to the ground. Cars and motor cycles were littered in Rajbagh and other areas as if these had been bombed and scattered from their original places to far off distances. Many questions are now being raised whether the flood fury that ravaged Srinagar city was natural or man-made. The most logical answer to this disturbing question is that the floods those hit Srinagar city and removed all its once lofty and high profile commercial and residential landmarks were both natural and man-made. These floods were natural to the extent that the rise of flood waters in the Jhelum River to such unbelievable height was not possible unless we accept that the disaster was natural and could not have been prevented by any measure taken by the Government. These floods were at the same time man-made because if sufficient and much needed preventive and precautionary measures had been taken, the damage caused by these floods could have been minimized. It is a known fact that two sitting MLAs stood guard to ensure that the embankment of the Jhelum River at Kandizaal is not breached to save the city. The fact that the embankment at Kandizal breached under the tremendous pressure caused by the flood waters does not prevent one from thinking whether the timely breaching of the Kandizaal embankment could have saved Srinagar from being submerged to such high levels. The other thing that is being debated here is whether or not the gates of the Dal Lake were opened up in time or closed in time to prevent backwaters from inundated areas. While these will continue to be debates for the future flood prevention plans of the State Government, there is no denying the fact that for the last over four decades the State Government has done literally nothing to ensure flood protection of the Valley. The State Government has said the ambitious over Rs. 2000 crore project for laying of an alternate flood channel for Srinagar city has not been approved by the centre since 2010. What has the State Government been doing for last four years to ensure speedy approval of the project? Is it not a fact that instead of preventing private houses, commercial centres and other structures from coming up in flood prone areas, the State Government has been building its own infrastructure in such areas of Srinagar city? |
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