No lesson learnt from 2014, people panic stricken, Omar on flood threat

Srinagar: Alleging that no lesson was learnt from 2014 when rescue work was politicized in view of Assembly election, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said with just 48 hour of rain people in the Kashmir valley are panic stricken watching water levels climb as low lying areas were inundated.
Omar Abdullah demanded inquiry into money claimed to have been spent for dredging and other flood protection works in the valley.
In a Facebook post, vice president of the National Conference (NC) said in 2014 the floods devastated large parts of the state. The Kashmir valley was especially hard hit. At that time a well orchestrated campaign was mounted to paint my government as ineffective.
He alleged that camera crews were embedded at the airport in Srinagar and a narrative was created. I’m not the least bit resentful of what was done. Elections were round the corner so it’s no surprise that the rescue work was politicised.
He said in fact even the immediate relief was subjected to the requirements of political expediency. It was suggested that relief would flow to the state only after the elections had thrown up a new government. In early 2015 Late Mufti Syed gave the need for flood relief as one of his justifications for his alliance with the BJP.
“Today in 2018 we are forced to ask what happened to all those promises? What happened to all the flood protection works that were supposed to be undertaken? What happened to the dredging of the Jehlum & flood channel to increase its carrying capacity? Today 48 hours of rain, rain that wasn’t altogether very heavy, had us scrambling for high ground. Panic stricken people watched water levels climb as low lying areas were inundated”, he said in the post.
He alleged that no lessons have been learnt from 2014. What more glaring evidence of this do we need than the under construction hotel on flood control land right on the bank of the Jehlum. This land saved Raj Bagh in the initial days of the floods & was also the land that was used to pump out water from Raj Bagh after the rains had stopped. How was permission given for this hotel? Who is this influential PDP supporter who had all the rules bent in his favour?
Where did all the dredging money go? Claims of dredgers having been used to widen & deepen the Jehlum were made but at the first sign of rain those claims have been found to be hollow. What of the flood channel? Mud dug out by manual labour & JCBs was piled in the flood channel itself. The rain just washed that mud back in to the channel that had been dug, he said.
Governor Vohra must immediately order an inquiry in to the wastage of money allegedly spent on dredging the Jehlum. This inquiry should also cover the supposed deepening of the flood channel.
Finally Governor Vohra must immediately stop the construction of the hotel on the bank of the Jehlum in Raj Bagh while he satisfies himself that no rules & procedures were violated while giving permission for construction on what is believed to be flood control department land.