- The compromise on the quality of construction works is increasing the water logging and flooding woes of the people in the housing colonies in low lying areas in Srinagar city.
Though there is nothing new in it that roads remain submerged and drains get choked in the housing colonies in low lying areas of Srinagar city like several major towns of Kashmir Valley but unfortunately road construction policies remain the same as they were decades back even after the takeover of the city’s full fledged R&B Division by Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). Policies on development and management of city roads are though overdue for a major review but are not unfortunately reviewed even after the takeover of city’ R&B Division by Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). Priorities in road construction policy have changed but only for the convenience of the influential pressure groups maintaining proximity with the people exercising control over the management of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). Repairing and macadamising the link roads of both old and new housing colonies for the conveniences of people exercising control over Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) won’t in any way resolve the road connectivity issues of the people in the low lying areas of Srinagar city. Had the people exercising control over the management of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) appointed an expert committee to look into the causes of increasing road connectivity woes of the low lying areas of Srinagar city, the link roads of housing colonies in low lying areas won’t remain inundated for weeks together after days of heavy rains. While roads in most well developed cities of the country have been made resistant to heavy rains and flooding, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) does not discuss and review the repairs and reconstruction plans of the link roads connecting both old and new housing colonies with key areas of Srinagar city. While R&B’s City Division does not take remedial measures for making the link roads of the housing colonies resistant to water logging and flooding, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) does not also apply the practices and procedures of administrative and financial audits to the city’s R&B division directly controlled by it for last more than three years.
“The compromise on the quality of construction works is increasing the water logging and flooding woes of the people in the housing colonies in low lying areas in Srinagar city. While onus of connecting housing colonies of low lying areas with all the areas of Srinagar city lies on City’s R&B division directly controlled by Srinagar Municipal Corporation, the top brass of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) owes explanations to the people of Srinagar city over the increasing grievances of waterlogging of roads in the housing colonies of low lying areas of Srinagar”.
Through regular monitoring of repair, reconstruction and macadamisation of link roads of housing colonies by all standards of understandabilities could have reduced the increasing woes of water logging and flooding in the housing colonies in low lying areas but the will to monitor developmental works is altogether found missing from top to bottom in Srinagar Municipal Corporation. Consequently the compromise on the quality of construction works is increasing the water logging and flooding woes of the people in the housing colonies in low lying areas in Srinagar city. While onus of connecting housing colonies of low lying areas with all the areas of Srinagar city lies on City’s R&B division directly controlled by Srinagar Municipal Corporation, the top brass of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) owes explanations to the people of Srinagar city over the increasing grievances of waterlogging of roads in the housing colonies of low lying areas of Srinagar.
