While the Srinagar Municipal Corpoation (SMC) blames the administrative department for delays in release of required funds for clearance of new drainage estimate, the vulnerability of people to water logging in low lying areas increases month after month and year after year.
Nothing new in it that Incessant rains for days together trigger fears of flooding in Kashmir Valley but few hours of heavy showers triggering flood threats in parts lof Kashmir valley particularly Srinagar city is really a new experience being witnessed for the last 8 years after 2014 devastating flood wrecked heavoc in Kashmir particularly Srinagar city. Unfortunately instead of learning lessons from the experiences of 2014 devastating floods and rectifying the wrongs that were believed to be cause of 2014 devastating floods the Government is committing more wrongs to increase the vulnerability of Srinagar to flood threats and water logging . The onus for this failure lies mostly on Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). Though flood threat caused by few hours of heavy rains subside within hours after improvement in weather but people grappling with the worst kind of water logging obviously due to the failure of the city’s decades old drainage system heads to no dead end in both old and new housing colonies of Srinagar city. Unfortunately a long term planning to upgrade a virtually defunct drainage system has not attracted the attention of the urban planners and administrators of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) which would have most probably reduced the simmering crisis of water logging in both old and new housing colonies of the Srinagar City. Though reports about the worst forms of water logging within hours of heavy showers are since 2014 devastating floods randomly emanating from low lying areas of Srinagar city like Indra Nagar, Shivpora, Batwara and Sonawar (located on the right side of the Jhelum in Srinagar), Chanapora and Natipora along the Srinagar bypass road, Zakoora, Soura and Padshahi Bagh on the southern flanks of the city but since last nine years Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has not upgraded drainage system even in a single low lying area of Srinagar city. Even if drainage system has been upgraded at one or the other place in Srinagar City for convenience those wielding power and authority in the Government it is becoming a cause of water logging instead of reducing the vulnerability of the concerned area to water logging.
“While the old drainage systems in old housing colonies are overdue for redesigning and upgradation, the clearance of new drainage estimates awaiting clearance for years and months together in planning and drainage wings of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) if cleared in short time would unprecedentedly reduce the simmering crisis of water logging and increasing flood threats in both old and new housing colonies in low lying areas of Srinagar city”.
Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Athar Amir Khan in his recent remark on water logging claiming that water flowed into the shops at the recently developed Poloview market due to leakage of water from an old drain is an indefensible defence as the leakage points of the said old drain could have been plugged before completion of the new drainage system in the new Polo view market. Forget about upgradation of old drainage system, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) does not even clear the drainage estimates of several newly established housing colonies despite being vulnerable to water logging triggered by incessant rains . Notably the onus of delay in the clearance of such drainage estimates of new housing colonies lies on planning and drainage wings of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and sole reason cited for such unprecedented delays in clearing the pending drainage estimates is paucity of funds. While the Srinagar Municipal Corpoation (SMC) blames the administrative department for delays in release of required funds for clearance of new drainage estimate, the vulnerability of people to water logging in low lying areas increases month after month and year after year. While the execution of drainage plans due to paucity of funds is getting delayed and delayed month after month and year after year, the delays in de-silting of river Jhelum and several key flood channels particularly Rambag flood spill channel is fast reducing the carrying capacity of the river. Delisting of the river Jehlum if carried out annually on regular basis would by all standards of understandabilities increase the carrying capacity of river Jehlum and water would consequently flow below the danger mark instead of rising above it in the wake of heavy rains for two or three days. While the old drainage systems in old housing colonies are overdue for redesigning and upgradation, the clearance of new drainage estimates awaiting clearance for years and months together in planning and drainage wings of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) if cleared in short time would unprecedentedly reduce the simmering crisis of water logging and increasing flood threats in both old and new housing colonies in low lying areas of Srinagar city.
