Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 30: The residents of Soibugh and its adjoining areas of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district today held a protest demonstration in Srinagar against the attachment of the Executive Engineer, Flood Control, Narbal division and alleged that his attachment was done at the behest of the company that has been given the dredging contract.
Scores of residents assembled at Press Enclave in the afternoon and raised slogans against the attachment of Mohammad Aslam Zargar, Executive Engineer, and demanded cancellation of his attachment order.
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While terming the attachment order of the engineer as a shock for residents of the area, they said that the engineer is an honest person and is well versed with the area and the problems faced by the residents due to absence of flood channel in Hokersar area.
Abdul Rahim Malik, Secretary, Rural Development Forum said that Government recently started the work on flood channel through Hokersar wetland. He said that thousands of kanals of agricultural land were submerged due to waterlogging and the project will help restarting of the agricultural activity in the villages near the Hokersar.
He said that the Engineer who was well versed with the area was all of a sudden attached and there are apprehensions that the new engineer would not do his work properly as he has no knowledge about the area.
“The problem happened decades ago when the flood spill channel was constructed up to Shariefabad and was left open after that. By the passage of time, the area was covered with silt and there was backward flow of water that drowned the city as well as our area”, Residents said.
“About 75000 kanals of our land including agriculture, playgrounds and graveyards were flooded and after that it was covered with silt. Now after decades of struggle, the dredging of the area was started. His attachment order all of a sudden has shocked us and there is something fishy in it. The apprehensions of people are that the new officer will only sign the bills and has no knowledge about the area,” he said.
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