Jammu, September 06: One year has gone by but the devastating flood furry of last September that ravaged the life and property of thousands of citizens of Jammu and Kashmir has not been able to wake-up the lethargic, non-serious political and bureaucratic dispensation of the state to act before it is too late.
The power has changed the hands since last September and new political order has taken over with tall promises and claims of ending the political, bureaucratic corruption and lethargy but the talks have remained the political ‘jhumlas’ only even as no drastic change is visible on ground.
The opposition that had cried foul last year castigating Omar Abdullah government for not taking advance precautions and alleging mishandling of the floods is now in the very seat of power but little has changed as nothing has been done to prevent such kind of catastrophes in future which is evident from the fact that in the capital city of Srinagar the flood threat still looms large with no outlet for the floods available as yet.
The Hokersar flood channel that was supposed to be the main cause of the last years flooding of the Srinagar city is still on a status quo mode and the government is sleeping over the issue even as newspapers and people are crying hoarse to act before it is too late.
The dredging work to widen and deepen the flood channel has not been taken up and reports are that even after paying the money the necessary dredging equipment has not been procured or the case pending in Supreme Court is not being followed up properly.
On the other hand the victims of last year’s floods and rains are still waiting for the relief and rehabilitation with hundreds of them are spending their lives under temporary sheds notwithstanding the fact that no less than the Prime Minister of this country had announced huge relief package for the victims.
The height of the things is that some victims in Jammu got a paltry sum of Rs 3800/- only for three to four collapsed houses and nobody is willing to listen to their grievances.
Similar is the case in Kashmir where only politically connected people have grabbed the lions share from the relief bounty where as the ordinary people are still running form pillar to post to get a respectable relief or rehabilitation measures done.
The case is worse for Jammuites who don’t get the headlines in the media like their counterparts in Kashmir even though it was widely believed that Jammuites may get a fair deal now after BJP came to power.
However it seems the politicians of all hues are birds of the same flock and forget the lesser mortals as soon as the elections are over and get busy in collecting their pound of flesh.
According to a report published in Greater Kashmir, “Some of the victims have also alleged malpractices by the lower ranking staff of the Revenue Department, who prepared the loss assessment report following the floods last year.
They alleged that bribes and close connections with politicians ensure that some people got the first installment of relief more than once”.
Similar report also appeared in Daily Excelsior which says, “Wild Life Department has paid Rs 40 lakh to Mechanical division for the purchase of dredger for the Hokersar wetland but so far the machine has not been purchased. “This speaks volumes about the non-seriousness of Governments’ to save the water body and prevent floods”, they said.
Last year due to choking of Hokersar, there was back flow of water in the flood spill channel in Srinagar during last year’s floods as Hokersar has lost the water retention capacity. Even this year in April, there was back flow of water in flood channel”.
This indicates that despite the hoarse cries by the people and the media the government seems hardly bothered about the ground realities and refuses to learn from the past mistakes to take corrective measures in advance.
The time demands that the new dispensation must act fast and take necessary measures before it is too late to save the state from yet another flood furry.