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| Huge population without power, numerous roads yet to be cleared of snow | | Five days after heavy snowfall people of Kashmir continue to suffer on multiple fronts | | Jehangir Rashid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Nov 11: The first heavy snowfall in the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir for this season has pushed the people to the wall and they are suffering on multiple fronts amidst the claims by the people at helm that everything is hunky dory.
Early Times has received reports from different quarters that power supply is yet to be restored to a large population living across the length and breadth of the Kashmir valley. In the absence of electrical energy the common masses are shivering with cold especially during the nights.
"Not to talk of the far-off areas, many areas of Srinagar district are without power as the supply is yet to be restored. People living in many posh areas of the district continue to live without power since November 7. Despite claims the supply is yet to be restored in many of these areas," said Zahoor Ahmad, a resident of Jawahar Nagar.
Kashmir valley witnessed heavy snowfall on November 6 and 7, with the Srinagar city recording more than one feet of snow. In the other districts of the valley the snow was unprecedented since three to four feet of snow being recorded at these places.
"The horticulture sector suffered heavy losses as the apples were yet to be plucked from trees in many areas of the valley. Some of the varieties of the apple are plucked from trees by November 15. Since the snow came down early these apples could not be plucked and thousands of apple trees got damaged as well," said Mohammad Iqbal, a resident of Shopian.
Reports said that it would take the officials of Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) at least one more week to fully restore the power supply in Kashmir. Since the transmission lines, poles and transformers have suffered extensive damage across the valley it would be a herculean task to set the things right in this regard.
"In most districts of Kashmir even the essential services including hospitals are yet to be connected with the power supply. Given this fact one should not hope that power supply to the people in general would be restored across valley before this weekend. This means that people would have to live without power for some more days," said Aga Amin, a resident of Magam.
Inability of the government to clear snow from the main roads, lanes and by-lanes in Srinagar and other districts of Kashmir has come up as yet another topic of discussion among the people of valley. The people as a whole allege that the administration failed to clear snow thus leading to numerous problems for them.
"It was only after hue and cry from people that snow was cleared from roads as well as lanes in the Srinagar city. No such provision was applied for the people living in the other districts especially in the far-flung areas. Even in the Srinagar district on the first day only the main road connecting Dalgate with Batmaloo was made through while as the other roads were covered with snow for more than one day," said Gulzar Ahmad, a resident of Sanat Nagar.
It would be in place to mention here that barring Hirdesh Kumar, Commissioner Secretary Power nobody from the government bothered to visit Kashmir and take stock of the situation that emerged after the heavy snowfall. The absence of government on the ground led to disillusionment among the masses and they are quite disappointed about the same. |
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