“Had the disaster management mechanisms of the district administration been in a state of preparedness and alertness, the rescue team engaged with job of recovering the bodies would have recovered the missing bodies within first two days of the operation.”
The death of six individuals in a boat capsizing incident in Gandbal area of Srinagar early this week left not only the victim families in shock but the entire Kashmir Valley. Unfortunately the boat capsizing tragedy has exposed not only the lapses in the responses of Government’s disaster management mechanisms but also the lack of alertness of the district administration and awareness of the people about the precautions which could save their lives of people from sinking into whirlpools of death during natural calamities particularly food like situation. In the very first instance the boat tragedy won’t have happened at all if the concerned Deputy Commissioner or the concerned Chief Education Officer would have shut the schools of the area in view of the reports about the rise in water level very close to the point of danger mark. As per the precedence this is an initiative left to the wisdom of Deputy Commissioners and Chief Education Officers always in the wake of a flood like situation or heavy snowing in their areas of jurisdictions. So Usually Divisional Commissioner Kashmir should have sought an explanation from the concerned Deputy Commissioner and Director School Education Kashmir from the concerned Chief Education Officer for showing negligence in closing the schools during the hours of flood like situation in the area. Unfortunately in this whole process the disaster management mechanisms was no where seen in the state of preparedness and alertness. Had the disaster management mechanisms of the district administration been in a state of preparedness and alertness, the rescue team engaged with job of recovering the bodies would have recovered the missing bodies within first two days of the operation. The last but not the least is the unprecedented delay caused in the completion of the Gandbal Bridge not for one or two years but for more than a decade. The bureaucratic inefficiency and administrative negligence exposed in this whole process deserves and demands a thorough investigation with the intent of digging out the root causes of the delay witnessed in the construction of the bridge during last more than a decade now.
“It is only the boat capsizing incident which attracted the attention of the people and the Government towards the delay caused in the construction of Gandbal bridge. Don’t be surprised if a cursory look at the survey of many more such under construction bridges shows work on most of them getting delayed for years together and yet again not catching the attention of the Government. Henceforth it is for the Government to review the progress on construction of such bridges for the purposes of drawing timelines for their immediate completion and also simultaneously take stock of the working of the Government’s disaster management mechanisms related to flooding in low lying areas of both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu divisions.”
While it is true that the locals are forced to board boats even during the hours of flooding but it is also an irrefutable fact that had the district administration done some lessoning on risks in using boats during the times of steep rise in the water levels, the tragedy won’t have perhaps happened and sunk the entire population of Gandbal area in grief and shock. Forget about educating the people about the risks involved in boat rides during incessant rains in a flood prone area like Gandabal, the system of using the boats in the area is in itself a big risk as it has been learnt that the ill fated boat detached from the supporting rope and collided with one of the bridge’s pillars due to which lives were lost, families were shattered and entire Kashmir Valley went into shock and grief. It is only the boat capsizing incident which attracted the attention of the people and the Government. Don’t be surprised if a cursory look at the survey of such under construction bridges shows work on most of them getting delayed for years together and yet again not catching the attention of the Government. Henceforth it is for the Government to review the progress on construction of such bridges for the purposes of drawing timelines for their immediate completion and also simultaneously take stock of the working of the Government’s disaster management mechanisms related to flooding in low lying areas of both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu divisions.
