Winter preparedness in not all about claims by the Government but it is all about actions government undertakes to mitigate the sufferings of the people during the harshest chilly season of winter particularly 40 day old “Chillai-Kalan” which will begin by 21st December. Experiences of yesteryears show that when it comes to fighting challenges of snow clearance and restoration of power in mid-winter in Kashmir valley, the operational preparedness of the government collapses under few inches of snow. This year’s winter preparedness apparently is in no way different from the implementation of winter action plans of the previous popular governments of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state as huge public uproar over the violation of power cut schedules announced recently even before mid November this year is in itself an indication of the failures in the power distribution system in Kashmir valley. Blaming the power development department (PDD) and penalising the responsible PDD functionaries’ for the failures in execution of it’s announced power cut schedules has neither brought any respite in yesteryears nor will it bring any relief in future to the people of Kashmir valley as the bigger cause for erratic power supply during chilly season of winter is power generation but not the power distribution. So by all standards of understandabilities greater focus on power generation alone can reduce the intensity of the failures in power distribution system during chilly months of winter in Kashmir and as such only actions on improving the power generation system can bring about perceptible change in the power distribution scenario during upcoming 40 day long harshest season of “Chilla-i-Kalan” in Kashmir valley. Like the mess in power distribution system the stock and supply position of essential commodities in presence of unprecedented hike in the prices of some of the essential commodities is another worry that has begun haunting the gullible people of Kashmir as usual.
Action plans for winter preparedness would bring respite to people only if the execution is responsive to the situation and better for the government to identify the lapses and plug the holes well in advance.
Market checking teams inspecting the markets in Srinagar as usual won’t by any means bring stability in the prices of essential commodities as this market checking is reduced to Srinagar city and some towns only during the days of normal traffic movement on Srinagar-Jammu highway but such market inspections are not conducted even in Srinagar city after the closure of Srinagar-Jammu highway for days together. Even this time when Srinagar-Jammu highway is open for traffic the prices of some essential commodities are unprecedentedly soaring in markets across Kashmir. Action plans for winter preparedness would bring respite to people only if the execution is responsive to the situation and better for the government to identify the lapses and plug the holes well in advance.
