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| Govt mulls identification of disaster prone areas | | | Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, July 2: The recent flood threat that is still imminent has stressed need for dis-allowing constructions in flood prone areas.
The water level rises even by moderate rainfall. Many families from flood prone areas shifted to safer areas as the water level in the Jhelum kept rising on Saturday. This has become a common phenomenon in Kashmir in the aftermath of 2014 floods as the water level rises in river Jehlum even by moderate rainfall and people apprehend a deluge.
An official document of the district development commissioner office Srinagar says that areas, which are 'disaster prone and vulnerable' in Srinagar district, would be identified so that "residential colonies are raised at safe locations and people living in risk prone areas are rehabilitated elsewhere".
"Geology and Mining department shall be involved in identification of vulnerable areas. The concerned department would be asked to prepare a geological map, which would delineate areas in district Srinagar that can be exposed to the impact of strong earthquakes and other natural disasters," the document reads.
"This has to be done immediately as Valley is prone to disasters," an official said.
The official said that there has to be a regulatory frame-work in place, which would discourage construction activity in areas vulnerable to disasters.
"Once the Geological map of district Srinagar is ready, the tehsil , block officers and even panchayats would be given authority to deal with unplanned construction activity. It shall be made mandatory to seek building permission from the concerned offices," the official said, it was decided in several meetings.
An official posted at Divisional Commissioner Kashmir office said that there are many buildings in the district, which have been constructed without adhering to the norms pertaining to the resistant construction.
"Such buildings are not safe enough to resist the impact of a severe earth quake. If earthquake resistant technology is used in construction of buildings, such structures can withstand earthquakes up to a certain magnitude," the official said.
The state cabinet approved the Disaster Management Plan in July 2015, when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had been chief minister of J&K.
It was prepared by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai. The government had said that it was an effort to reduce the vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters and natural calamities in a more effective manner. The government had also said the plan was long overdue as there were lessons to be learnt from the devastating floods of 2014 in terms of real-time rescue missions for timely evacuation of people. |
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