Naveed Ul Haq Ganaiee
Budgam, Sep 04 : Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said the widespread destruction caused by the ongoing floods could have been prevented if authorities had acted on the plan post-2014 floods and implemented concrete preventive measures.
The CM, as reported by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), visited several flood-affected areas in Budgam district and urged the Centre to immediately announce a relief package for victims.
He said timely evacuation by the administration saved lives, but damages to homes and infrastructure were “unavoidable and must not be ignored”.
“Had the governments in the last 11 years taken preventive measures, the situation could have been different,” Omar said. “We formulated a package after the 2014 floods to increase the carrying capacity in flood channels and the river Jhelum, but unfortunately, it seems that the 11 years have been wasted.”
CM Abdullah said that in the next week, he will conduct a review to see what has been done in the last 11 years and what needs to be done to ensure that such a situation is prevented in the future. We will raise the questions in this regard to get the answers, he said.
“As the teams from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) have been deputed to Jammu districts, I will write to the Home Minister Amit Shah to depute the team to Kashmir districts also to assess the damage caused to the orchards, agriculture and other things due to the floods and announce the package for both Jammu as well as Kashmir accordingly,” he said.
About the floods, the CM said Srinagar has been protected, but some areas like Lasjan and others have been submerged. He, however, added that the administration, including Divisional Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and MLAs, have evacuated the people on time, which saved lives, but there is undeniable damage to the properties.
During his visit to Tengan and Shalina in Budgam, Abdullah reviewed the situation caused by continuous rains and rising water levels in the Jhelum, which led to breaches and flooding of nearby areas. He commended the swift action of the administration and MLAs, who remained on the ground during the crisis—(KNO)
