Callous attitude
The weather has once again shown its ugly face in Kashmir. Not only has it been snowing since early Thursday morning but the snowfall is likely to continue till Friday afternoon which will spell more trouble and worries for the common man here.
Snowfall is no bane for the Kashmir Valley, but what makes it no less than a curse is the lack of facilities the people face due to bad weather conditions. The mechanism and the work pattern that is followed by the government in the state is bereft of any policy that deals with the situations that can arise due to inclement weather or natural disasters.
No sooner it started snowing in most parts of the valley, electricity has been off. Not only in rural areas but major parts of the city, including the trade centres have been witnessing a power failure, with authorities issuing mere statements and assurances.
The plight of other sectors too is no different. Most of the civic authorities have been in slumber and no plan was drawn much earlier to deal with the situation that may arise out of the bad weather forecast.
Even the Srinagar Municipal Corporation has not been able to garner its men and machinery to tackle the situation at hand. Most parts of the City including city centreLalchowk witnessed water logged roads and by lanes and the mechanism to restore order was once again missing.
The most worrisome factor that needs immediate attention is that the District administration is still grappling with the snowfall and it took the administration more than eight hours to even come out with various helpline numbers so that the general public could avail the facilities if at all some had been put in place.
The helpline numbers that could connect the suffering masses to the officialdom were issued around noon and that too when people tried to connect, the lines were either busy or in many cases no response is what the people got from the other end.
The failure of the system has once again brought some important issues on the forefront. The system needs to learn and adapt with the increasing needs of the people in times of need. The weather has been a challenge for the people and the administration here since long now. This is not for the first time that inclement weather has affected Kashmir.
The pattern was witnessed fifty years ago and the same is repeating now, but what has been a worrisome phenomenon is that the administration has failed to learn some lessons. Lessons that could have lessened the burden of miseries for the common man who otherwise gets bogged down by failures all around.
KV Network
