Srinagar: National Conference General Secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar on Wednesday expressed dismay over the administrative inertia that has beset Srinagar and other areas following snowfall, asking the administration to expedite the process of restoration of basic civic amenities to people.
Expressing dismay over the failure of the administration to preempt the situation on account of the advisories of the weatherman, Sagar said the administration was again caught napping. He made an extensive tour around the city areas and interacted with people who expressed helplessness in view of the administration’s ineptness in dealing with the exigencies on ground.
Later while interacting with the media at Nawa e Subah he said the continuous inundation of low-lying areas and the sight of snowed arterials and alleys reveal the failure of the administration. He said the summer capital is reeling under darkness, and the situation of water supply wasn’t any satisfactory with many areas in the old city going without water for 12 hours a day. “The claims of the agencies concerned fall flat in view of the prolonged outages, shortage of water and non clearance of roads leading to hospitals and other public places. While the normal life of Srinagar remains out of spin, the administration is busy clicking snaps and running virtual rescue and relief operations on social media escaping from its responsibilities on ground. The reality on the ground is starkly different and appalling. So far the government hasn’t put into action its mechanical division to clear the roads, moreover the interior alleys have also been left unattended,” he said.
He said the season’s major snowfall has debunked the claims of administration on its claims of dealing with weather vagaries in the ongoing winter season. “It was only after the snowfall that control rooms were set up to deal with the exigencies and meet eventualities. The suffering of the people has mounted on account of unaccountability in hospitals and unruly price rise of essential commodities by black marketers. Fighting weather vagaries have changed across the world, but the local administration has miserably failed to update its response on those lines. In this part of the world the administration is busy in PR exercises only. Compounding the unforeseen problems is the closure of main roads, and inner alleys, even 48 hours after it started snowing,” he said.
Impressing the administration to expedite its response to the snowfall, he said the restoration of road connectivity, power and water should top the agenda of the government. He also urged the government to start immediate dewatering of roads and other low-lying areas on priority basis.
