New Delhi:
Floods have once again come to haunt Jammu and Kashmir. With six bodies recovered so far in Budgam, the death toll has increased to 16. Several persons are also feared to be trapped in mudslides was feared dead.
In response8 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been rushed to evacuate affected people in Kashmir. Armed forces and four helicopters have been deployed to manage the flood situation in the Valley.
Facing the brunt, the central government on Monday granted Rs 200 crore as immediate relief while Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was rushed to Kashmir.
The Central government has also asked state government to use the amount of Rs 209.70 crore available under SDRF as on February 13, 2015.
But is this enough? Why no pre-action is taken in such adverse situations and only post-consequence steps are keenly observed.
It is widely known that unprecedented deluge in Jammu and Kashmir is because of urbanization, reduced forest cover and erratic monsoon.
However, authorities ignore warnings from weathermen, magnifying a disaster waiting to happen.
Later year, a report presented by Director DEERS Suresh Chugh to the Centre revealed, “The floods in Jammu and Kashmir were as a result of high rainfall in the catchments over short period of time, which amounts to cloud bursts and is a combined effect of the extreme event and less capacity of the drainage system to hold the quantum of water resulting in overflowing of banks and ultimately lead to the floods."
He also reported, “There was a confluence of three main rain bearing systems over Punjab that led to heavy rains in Kashmir. In all 557 sq km area was inundated, which is about 3.5 percent of the area of the state. Out of this, 444 sq km was Agriculture land, 20 sq km Horticulture land, 67 sq km built up area, 3 sq km forest area, 21 sq km wasteland and 2 sq km others. The spokesman said the report also outlines a strategy to protect the cities from floods in future like feasibility study for construction of parallel flood channel from Sangam-Kandizal to Wular.â€
Dredging on regular intervals, monitoring of sediments, land use, land cover, maintaining sanctity of Wetlands and Water bodies, climate change adaptation and mitigation have been suggested in the report
However, the Centre has paid no heed to the analysis. Even the Mufti Mohammed Sayeed government which took over in the state on its promise of providing reliefs to the distressed fail to help. Then how is Mufti Sayeed different from Omar Abdullah?
Flood water entered several low-lying areas of Kashmir causing panic among the locals for whom memories of the devastating deluge only seven months back are fresh in mind.
Last year in September, over 280 people died and tens of thousands became homeless in unprecedented floods in the state.
