Downpour cripples City centre, other areas
Srinagar: A heavy downpour for almost an hour in the morning on Thursday caused severe water-logging in most areas of Srinagar thereby exposing the fragile drainage system of the summer capital and tall claims of the district administration of improving the same.
As the rains lashed Srinagar for almost an hour majority areas of the city witnessed heavy water logging making it difficult for people to move from one place to another.
Reports said that early in the morning several roads, by-lanes of the city were under water, causing immense hardships to commuters.
“It was difficult for the commuters to walk on various city roads even the commercial hub Lal Chowk, Residency Road and MA Road here literally turned into a pool with vehicles even getting stuck at places,” said Nazir Ahmad, a businessman who operates from Lalchowk.
People blamed the district administration and Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) for failing to upgrade the drainage system in the city which often leads to water-logging as soon as there is a downpour.
Notably, water logging was witnessed in City center Lal Chowk, Residency Road, Polo View HSHS, Babademb, Jawahar Nagar, Badami Bagh Cantonment, Umarabad, HMT, Mustafaabad, Qamarwari, Samander Bagh, Bemina, Mahjoor Nagar, Batamaloo, Khanyar, Maisuma and many other places.
Mohmmad Ismail, a commuter at Koker Bazar said that the administration has failed to improve the drainage network in the city.
“Authorities have turned deaf ears towards this issue of grave importance. Water logging has badly affected the business as customers are not able to reach the shops they intend to,” he said.
Ismail alleged that there was not even a single lane in the city, which is not waterlogged.
People in different parts of City were up in arms against the SMC for failing to reach out to the waterlogged areas especially Lal Chowk which caused inconvenience to commuters, drivers and shopkeepers. People were seen treading through water-logged roads while traffic movement also slowed down due to the inundation.
Another local said district administration has not learnt any lesson from the devastating 2014 floods.
At some busy and important junctions including Regal Chowk, the pedestrians preferred to hire auto-rickshaw to cross the roads.
The problem was compounded by defunct drainage system in various areas. The choked drains, according to locals led to water logging in various city localities.
Interestingly, the state government had taken hundreds of drainage schemes in Kashmir over the years. Most of them could not be completed due to “lack of funds and coordination” between various departments.
“The Roads and Buildings department has been constructing roads in various areas without ensuring drainage system. The restoration of drainage system and road macadamization should have been done simultaneously,” the official said.
Ironically, the drainage system in the valley, especially in Srinagar city, was badly hit during the 2014 floods. The Housing and Urban Development Department (HUDD) has not been able to restore it permanently.
One of the officials of the SMC said that to avoid water logging, they had placed several pump stations to use and installed mobile pumping units across the city.
They said that there are some places that face water logging because of poor drainage system and unplanned constructions.
Meanwhile, inhabitants of Mustafabad and Umarabad also complained of water logging in the area, despite implementation of government sponsored AMRUT project in the area. They said the defunct drainage system in the area has led to water logging and often the drainage water enters their houses.
Residents of various other localities including interior Rainawari and Dal areas also complained of severe water logging.
The residents claimed that the officials of various departments have time and again been assuring the people that the issues will be looked into.
“But whenever it rains the situation returns to same where it had left last time,” said Abdul Razzak, a Rainawari resident. (With inputs from KNS)
KV News
