Formulate effective strategy to tackle flood threats: Hurriyat

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 29

The moderate Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has condemned the government over its “callous attitude” in tackling flood threats post the September deluge.

The amalgam has said the government so far has remained completely unmoved in taking any steps to tackle the danger of future floods and thereby stop possible devastation to be caused by such floods.

The statement from the Hurriyat comes at a time when the entire Kashmir valley is witnessing incessant rains since Saturday, with many neighbourhoods, including commercial nerve centre Lal Chowk witnessing waterlogging.

“Any rainfall these days makes people worried about a possible likelihood of floods in Kashmir. In this scenario, it is the duty of the government and its departments to end their apathy towards people and take serious steps to formulate an effective strategy so as to tackle the situation,” Hurriyat spokesman said in a statement here.

He said for those areas which have been earmarked by the experts as extremely vulnerable to the floods, there was a need to work without any further delay on the improvement of flood channels so as to stop any future flood disaster.

“However, it seems the Departments of Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) as well as the Disaster Management Agency is extremely careless, despite the magnitude of devastation caused by the floods in September 2014,” the spokesman said in a statement today.

The spokesperson added that, “The government so far has remained completely unmoved in taking any steps to tackle the danger of future floods and thereby stop possible devastation to be caused by such floods.”

“Leave aside the creation of new alternative flood channels, the government has not even devised any policy of improving and dredging the existing flood channels, rivers, streams and brooks so as to ensure smooth flow of water through them without any impediment,” the Hurriyat said, adding that more than 300 people lost their lives to floods in September 2014, crops spread over 68,400 hectare lands were damaged, three lakh houses were partially or fully damaged and 700 villages were inundated.

The amalgam in its statement claimed that that the government so far had not come out with any plausible strategy to assure the people of protection from any repeat of September 2014 floods.

“The callous attitude of the government seems to be deliberate to push the Kashmiris into the life of suffering and misery,” it said.