Isn’t it depressing to note that the euphoria demonstrated by the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on his official visit to Ladakh in the aftermath of the devastating floods of 2010 ultimately evaporated in thin air when the stage of releasing funds and executing flood management projects arrived. It is painful and unbelievable that the death of about 250 innocent souls besides more than 9000 persons rendered homeless by the floods should have failed to evoke deep sense of humanism in the authorities in whose hands rests the rehabilitation of the victims. The affected people remain with fingers crossed as to whose doorsteps they should bring the onus of their continued plight? Is it the Union Water Resource Ministry, the State government, the local administration or just the inscrutable destiny? The height of insensitivity of the authorities can be gauged from the way in which the buck is callously passed on from one authority to another. While the State authorities lament that the Union Water Resource Ministry is close-fisted in releasing funds, the latter asserts that allocated funds are not utilized optimally which, they conclude, means that the State government is incapable of making full use of the funds provided. This see-saw spectacle goes to the detriment of neither the Union Ministry nor the State government but directly and with vengeance to the poor flood sufferers of Ladakh.
The sin of these compatriots is that they live in a far flung area of the Northern State of Jammu and Kashmir. A dispassionate look at the situation in which they are passing their days makes us raise a question whether we are right in calling ours a welfare state. The litmus test of a welfare state is how earnest it is in mitigating the travails of its people afflicted by natural calamity of immense magnitude. It is true that in the aftermath of the floods in Ladakh, a survey was conducted by experts to ascertain the reason for devastation of that magnitude. The study revealed that actually it was several overflowing nulllahs that were unable to contain the quantum of water coming down the heights and broke the banks and inundated the habitats on the sidelines. Consequently, the suggestion came that the vulnerable nullahs needed to be tamed in a way that the risk of their once again overflowing and causing damage is mitigated once for all.
It was in the light of this policy that a study of all the five nullahs was conducted and Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) were prepared and submitted to the Union Water Resource Ministry. As far as we understand comprehensive report on each nullah has been prepared. The question is at what point logjam has occurred so that the State government is not able to provide its share of funds towards the implementation of the projects. DPRs have been prepared by the State government. As such it was the responsibility of the State government to ensure that it would be able to meet the share of expenditure before submitting the proposal to the Union government.
Apart from funding aspect, the weak point as we see is the slackness and lethargy of the concerned Government department or agency. It is contrary to the fundamental principle of equitable development in all the three regions of the State. Distance and limited accessibility of the Ladakh region should not be made an excuse for depriving it of essential developmental projects that are closely connected with the safety, security ad well being of its people.
Finally it needs to be reiterated that Ladakh is not only a border area but also strategically an important region. The people of this region are stoutly nationalists. As such they expect that their rights and needs are conceded without hassles and without forcing them to beg for it. A welfare state desists from turning its citizens into beggars. No self-respecting group is prepared to compromise on its identity and individuality.
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