As flood water is receding and the submerged parts of Srinagar city especially the low-lying areas close to the water channels and the river are getting dewatered, the complaint reflected by most of the residents of inundated areas is that there is lack of proper drainage system in the city. There are massive encroachments of the banks of water channels which hinders free flow of flood waters in these channels. The Municipal authorities have turned Nelson’s eye to the encroachments and even some Government offices too have been shifted so close to the banks of water channels that these choke them and do not allow them to discharge water freely. This is a situation in which the Government shall have to begin elaborate inquiry and remedy. Will it do or not is a different question because in Kashmir, everything is tagged to local politics and political interests. The concept of civic facilities and necessities has lost its relevance. Yes, in 2010 the State Government is reported to have submitted Rs 220 crore plan to the Union Government for digging another flood channel besides the one in operation from the Sangam in Anantnag district to Wullar. About 97 crore rupees are said to have been released which, as we understand, was spent not undertaking the construction of the second flood channel but on drudging the existing flood channel. Moreover what guarantee is there that even if the second flood channel is constructed, it will not be encroached upon as has been the case with the existing channel? If the Government was serious in controlling the floods by allowing free flow to the water it would have ordered dismantling of encroachments before undertaking construction of a new channel.
The simple inference is that when politics and political interests are allowed to supervene, administration is denuded of its technical input. It is reported that the MLAs whose constituencies fall in the area through which the flood channel runs have been instrumental in getting the river bund dismantled and allowing the flood waters to enter the low lying arreas of the city and in this way they tried to save their constituencies from getting inundated. We would suggest that the Government order inquiry into these allegations and rumours. Unless administration is divested of political trappings things will hardly improve.
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