Sigh of relief
As the weather showed some improvements in Jammu and Kashmir people living in the twin capital cities and elsewhere heaved a sigh of relief as the receding water in the two major rivers,Tawi and Jhelum reflected that the flood threat seems to be over for now.
Though Jammu region especially Jammu city witnessed huge damage, the situation in Srinagar and other regions here was much better as the Jhelum embankments held the forte and did not allow any major breach to take place.
The past few years have been exhibiting a unique phenomenon in Jammu and Kashmir where even a minor change in weather patterns signals alarm bells for the residents who have to fold their hands in prayers to let them escape the fury of the river’s which swell even after a minor downpour.
The abrupt rise in water and the threat under which the residents have to live reflect that all is not well in the entire UT as such incidents have been recurring almost every three months now.
The September 2014 deluge that left almost the entire Kashmir reason suffer owing to massive floods should have acted as a warning for the people as well as the entire administration and some concrete measures should have been ensured to help safeguard the twin cities from nature’s fury.
Notably, experts have repeatedly warned that Kashmir Valley remains highly vulnerable to floods due to unchecked construction in floodplains, deforestation in catchment areas and incomplete dredging of the Jhelum. The September 2014 deluge had submerged large parts of Srinagar city and displaced lakhs of people, exposing glaring lapses in preparedness.
Yet, over a decade later, little appears to have changed. The Jhelum’s carrying capacity has only marginally improved despite huge claims of dredging. The proposed flood spill channel expansion remains stuck in files and the mess created by the wanton loot of flood channels by the local population has added to the crisis.
The situation seems no different in Jammu as well where major flood spill land patches falling close to the Tawi River have been encroached ruthlessly and the result was there for all of us to see.
What has created more panic right now is that the administration in Kashmir has been quite candid in admitting that the next two weeks may spell more trouble as the weather related developments are pointing towards a major downpour in the region which will again haunt the locals here.
The patterns that are emerging suggest that some concrete measures are to be adopted immediately so that the situation becomes manageable in case of further swell in the rivers, especially Jhelum which flows across the Kashmir valley.
The administration needs to stress on increasing the Jhelum River’s carrying capacity to accommodate high water flows, as seen in Phase I of the flood management project, which increased the river’s capacity from 31,800 cusecs to 41,000 cusecs in the Srinagar reach.
Besides, bank protection measures need to be undertaken to prevent erosion and damage to surrounding areas.
