Flood protection measures
Kashmir Valley has been prone to floods and the phenomenon of these floods is attributed to various rivers including Jhelum which runs across the Kashmir valley.
The recent floods that proved devastating in the valley was in 2014 when the Jhelum River got most parts of the valley submerged leaving everyone baffled. Since then various measures have been suggested and even approved to control the Jhelum River at times of heavy downpour.
For ensuring that the control measures the government has initiated massive flood management works across the Kashmir Valley with structural interventions worth over Rs 2,400 crore either completed or currently under execution to safeguard vulnerable habitations.
Notably, three-member core group was constituted by the Ministry of Water Resources on September 18, 2014, to prepare a comprehensive roadmap for flood mitigation in the Valley. The roadmap divided measures into immediate, short-term and long-term interventions.
The immediate measures focused on urgent restoration of embankments, protection bunds and damaged flood control infrastructure. A total of 4,555 breaches and vulnerable spots were addressed following the 2014 floods. Of these, 3,320 spots were restored temporarily while 1,235 were strengthened permanently using funds from the State Disaster Response Fund and other available sources.
For long-term mitigation, the government prepared a Comprehensive Flood Management Plan for River Jhelum and its tributaries at an estimated cost of Rs 2,083.90 crore. The project was sanctioned under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) in 2015.
Notably, two regulatory gates to control the inflow and outflow of water have been constructed at Hokersar wetland and commissioned at a cost of Rs 28.45 crore. These gates are expected to play a crucial role in regulating water flow and reducing flood risk during peak discharge periods.
Importantly, the measures, the government has undertaken are aimed at mitigating a potential flood discharge of nearly 60,000 cusecs at Sangam — one of the most critical flood monitoring points in the Valley.
Though these response underscore the continued focus on strengthening flood resilience in Kashmir, more than a decade after the 2014 deluge that submerged large parts of Srinagar and other districts, causing widespread damage to homes, businesses and public infrastructure, much more needs to be done to ensure that no such devastation takes place in future.
The administration needs to focus on construction of dams and barrages to regulate water flow besides a long term plan also needs to be developed to ensure massive afforestation which will reduce siltation and increase water absorption during the days when a heavy downpour is recorded.
Needless to say that early warning systems to improve flood forecasting and alerts also needs to be fully kept ready.
Floods can also be kept at bay if proper focus is put on reducing encroachments, manage floodplains and restrict settlements along the banks.
