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| Impending danger leads to silent migration, water level still rising | | Baghliar Dam begins showing colours - II Doda region residents alarmed | |  Who is lying? In complete contrast to claims of Jammu and Kashmir government, water level of river Chenab has been rising at an alarming level. As can be seen in the picture 1, water level is just 15 feet away from submerging the only bridge connecting Doda with rest of the world. Pic 2 shows submerged Temple and Mosque of what was once known as Pul-Doda. Early Times Photo/Syed Junaid Hashmi
Syed Junaid Hashmi
DODA, July 10: Impending fear of submergence of areas lying along Batote-Kishtwar national highway (NH) -1B has forced a large chunk of population to migrate to areas considered as safe zones in erstwhile district Doda. Clueless administration does not accept this and term the silent migration as "need based rehabilitation."
However, survey carried out by Early Times has revealed a spine chilling picture. People have migrated from Kulthi, Mala, Trungul, Lamar Bagh, lower Jathi, lower Assar, Bhothro, Marsu, Malhori, Lower Khelani, Pul-Doda, Koda Pani, Shamthi and other similar areas to higher reaches. Most of the migration has been towards Batote, Doda and Bhaderwah areas. Terrified due to rising level of water, these people are now either living in rented accommodations or have been constructing new houses in safer areas.
Road from Pull-Doda to Bhaderwah and Kishtwar bears testimony to this fact. New inhabitations have come up across the entire area. People have migrated even to Jammu. Those who do not have means are looking heavenwards and waiting for the water level to rise. Pull-Doda has already become history and is now represented by a zig-zag road, declared by experts most dangerous among all the stretches in erstwhile district Doda.
District administration is clueless and when asked, they term the entire rehabilitation and impending danger theory absurd. "What non-sense? Doda is safe and there is no danger of submergence. I can guarantee that. There is no need to panic," said an official on the condition of anonymity. He added that Baghliar Dam is not in any way dangerous for the Doda region.
The same official quoting some report said "Rocks in Doda region are not soft. They do not absorb water. Strength of rocks would stand every pressure for next more than two hundred years." However, experts rebuff this official line and assert that danger of submergence is lurking over the entire belt of Doda region from Batote to Pul-Doda.
More than 4200 families have migrated to safer areas and the figure is likely to touch 14 to 20 thousand in the days ahead. Inhabitants of submerged and likely to submerge areas condemn apathetic attitude of the Jammu and Kashmir government towards their proper rehabilitation.
Affected residents alleged that the government had forced them to vacate their properties without rehabilitating them properly. ''Government has given partial compensation to the affected families, but how can it help those who have lost source of income due to construction of the dam?'' said one Sonu living at Trungul in Ramban district.
Of total 4200 families, most of the families have migrated from the area to Jammu, Bhaderwah and Doda towns after the government declared it as danger zone, said a local leader. "Government had assured rehabilitation of the affected families on 134 kanals of land besides allotting them 250 shops, but the pace is staggered," added a local.
Some poor families are still finding it difficult to migrate and living under fear psychosis of rising water level. "'The submerging mosque and sunken shops and a Gurdwara indicate that water is still rising in the area and we have left in danger on our own risk,'' said a local living at Pul-Doda.
Meanwhile, Amit Gupta who had migrated to Jammu along with the family, expressed resentment against the successive state governments. ''I'm living with my family in a rented accommodation in Jammu since we migrated from Pul Doda after my shop was demolished,'' he said, asserting that he has not received any compensation amount.
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