Incessant rain causes panic in Valley

Rifat Mohidin

Srinagar, March 29

With people worried about the rising water level in rivers, the flood control department says it is closely monitoring the situation as the water level is below the danger mark yet.

As Srinagar was badly hit during the September floods, residents are in panic. “Embankments have not been repaired on a permanent basis and now we don’t want to take any risk. We don’t want to rely on the government as it completely failed us last time,” said a resident of Shivpora, Srinagar, where the locals have been continuously protesting about the cracks in embankments due to rain and snow.

With weatherman predicting wet spell till April 4, residents in the city that were worst hit by the floods have shifted to the upper floors of their houses. “We are yet to recover from the last year’s floods. Even though the authorities know how we are struggling to return to normalcy after the deluge, proper measures have not been taken to make the embankments strong as a slight breach can bring floods in the city now,” said a resident of Mahjoor Nagar, Srinagar.

The Chief Engineer of the Flood and Irrigation Department, Kashmir, Javef Jaffer, said there was no need to panic as the water level was normal. “We are closely monitoring the situation. The water level is normal yet, people should not panic. We are also placing sandbags at places where there is a threat of breach,” he said.