(The
trauma caused by the disastrous flood of 2014 makes living in Srinagar’s low
lying colonies virtually a continuous nightmare, especially during the rainy
days!)
The recent flood caused by just a couple of days of
continuous rain created a wave of panic among the people living in different
parts of Srinagar especially those in the low lying areas of the city. Some of
them had even started moving towards safer places and some had taken their
possessions to upper floors! This is the third nightmare. The first one was
last year and the second one early this year. It is truly living with
nightmares!
The capacity of the River and the flood channel has
been so much reduced that even a short spell of rain of couple of days creates
a flood like situation. Nothing tangible has been done by the concerned departments
during these four years. Rather both the River and the spill over channel have
got more silted and further reduced in capacity because of encroachments on the
embankments. Floods in Kashmir are a part of the history. These have been very
devastating in the past also. Historically, Kashmir has suffered immensely due
to floods which have often resulted in famine. However, in the recent times the
only devastating flood in the living memory was the 2014 flood which inundated
the capital city of Srinagar. According to reports a flood of such magnitude had
occurred almost after a century! Experts, say such massive flood had been
caused by the combination of western weather disturbances with the spill over of
monsoons. There were innumerable cloud bursts over the mountains. According to
satellite pictures, the main River had almost disappeared and there was a
couple of kilometres wide sheet of water moving all along downstream!
Most of the inundated places in Srinagar had over 20
feet of water. All the posh colonies of the capital were under water for almost
20 days or so. Fortunately, there was not much loss of life due to the
voluntary efforts of the people and the assistance of the Air Force and Army Engineers.
However, there was immense loss of property and peoples’ possessions. The
overall material loss ran into thousands of crores! People in some colonies had
to stay in the top most floors or in the attics of their houses for almost a
week before they were rescued. It was truly the worst nightmare of their lives!
Most of the experts who analysed
the disaster had observed that the flood was due to extreme vandalisation of
the environment in the catchment areas and usurpation of the flood basin of the
River. Incidentally, the River which
gave life to Kashmir has been fully vandalised and desecrated by us. The muck
and filth of almost entire Kashmir is made to flow into the River. Its banks
have been encroached in most places especially in the city of Srinagar. For
last half a century or so no one has bothered to dredge it and take away the
silt. Over and above everything else its flood basin has been snatched and
converted into colonies. Where else will it go except overflow its banks and
sometimes may even change course. Most of the wetlands and water bodies have
either been filled up or encroached upon. The historical channel Nala-i-Mar has
been filled up and converted into a road. We have hardly left any space for the
extra water to flow anywhere. In the catchment areas, most of the rain water
would normally get absorbed but now it runs down straight as we have totally
denuded the catchment area of the River. In view of this we will always face
the nightmare of a disastrous flood after every heavy rainfall even if it lasts
only for a couple of days as happened recently.
There is no point in
declaring Srinagar as a “Smart City” or improving its roads by flyovers and so
on. The first thing is to secure it against the disastrous floods which may be
visiting us off and on. There cannot be more pathetic and tragic fact than a
couple of day’s rain being unwelcome in Kashmir which has always survived on
rain! The rain used to be considered as a blessing but now it is a nightmare! There
is no time left to apportion blame but the most immediate need is to undertake
the urgent measures to secure the “City of the Sun” from floods. Not a
difficult or impossible task. Only requirement is to get the job done honestly.
It is a known fact that all engineering works are money minting proposals! For
a change both the authorities and the people need to be honest and sincere. The
task requires sincerity both from the government and the people. The lead has
to be given by the popular leaders and prominent citizens supported by the
government. Leaving the job totally to the government is virtually making
preparations for the next disaster!
It has been often
observed that most of the elected so called “popular” governments are corrupt
to the core. Incidentally, at present we have a one man government which is
honest, strong and a go getter. Having been a mountaineer and headed the Indian
Mountaineering Foundation, he knows how to face the risks and get things done! People
honestly feel that this system should continue till the city is secured against
these not natural but man-made disasters. For a change the hordes of so called
“political leaders” who have been virtually acting as leeches need to be sent
on a holiday. A large number of non-resident Kashmiris who have been alarmed by
the recent nightmare suffered by their kith and kin, in their comments too have
observed that the present set up should continue till all the flood prevention
measures are fully implemented. Will Delhi take a note of it! Let us hope they
do?
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