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| Now Jhelum bank breaches near Badami Bagh cantonment even before rainfall | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, July 19: The Jhelum embankments yet again breached in the flood-prone summer capital of Srinagar, this time ahead of the rainfall, raising alarm over the government preparedness to prevent any floods during bad weather conditions.
Sources said the Jhelum embankment breached towards the Batwara side which faces the Badami Bagh cantonment.
Official sources said the embankment collapsed some days ago when there were no flood threats and the river was flowing normally through the area.
It was reliably learnt that considerable portion of the bund collapsed during night hours and that subsequently the Irrigation and Flood Control Department swung its men and machinery into power to plug the breached portion.
The residents from adjoining areas said several truckloads of sandbags were used to plug the fissures.
A senior official said had the bund breached during flood alert it would have proved disastrous and that many of the nearby areas could be affected.
Sources said the IFCD didn't give much hype to the issue lest it creates panic and people raise more of doubts over the flood control measures undertaken during the previous regime.
A senior official said it was for the second time in the past around a month that the Jhelum embankment breached in the area. "Prior to it the embankment had breached upstream near Lasjan and that time also the areas including Badami Bagh cantonment could have been affected," the official said.
The area residents said there was need for a proper audit of the work done by the IFCD in the last four years for prevention of floods in the valley. "Unless there's a proper audit and engineers are made accountable Srinagar will continue to be more vulnerable to floods," agreed a official on the condition of anonymity.
The concerned citizens have already appealed Governor NN Vohra to initiate a CBI into the failure on the part of the previous PDP led government to take due measures for prevention of floods in Kashmir in general and Srinagar in particular.
When contacted a senior official in the IFCD downplayed the matter. "There was a problem with small portion of the bund that was damaged due to dredging in the area. Adequate measures were taken but it's an old issue now, why media wants to highlight it now," the official told Early Times. |
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