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Jhelum-post 2014 floods

Kashmir Times. Dated: 7/18/2017 10:35:15 AM

Govt needs to prepare a comprehensive plan for carrying out works to prevent flooding of Kashmir valley in future
Jammu and Kashmir government and its agencies do not appear to be serious in carrying out the dredging operations in Jhelum river basin and the flood channels in a manner that can prevent repeat of 2014 unprecedented floods in Kashmir valley. Unfortunately, the state government and its agencies connected with restoration of the flood channels have refused to learn any lessons and make efforts to save the people from similar situation in future. Though it is a fact that such unprecedented floods have occurred in the valley after a gap of about 111 years, yet lessons need to be learnt in the larger interest of the people. Many experts believe that the manner in which the dredging operations have been undertaken in the river basin and flood channel, the government is committing a mistake. Such mistakes should not be committed so that scarce resources of the state exchequer are not frittered away on unproductive works. In fact, an expert committee could have been constituted for undertaking such operations in order to ensure there is no repeat of the flood situation that played havoc with the lives and property of the people all across the Kashmir valley. The floods wrecked destruction of both the infra-structure as well as the economy of the state. Moreover, the flaws pointed out in construction of embankments of the river and the flood channels could be taken care of by the concerned agencies. The breaches in the embankments are yet to be repaired in a sound technical way. The compaction of the water pipes along the embankments of the river is yet to be carried out and the threat of flood water entering all the low lying areas in the city and rest of the valley continues to loom over the heads of the entire population. The causeways which can accommodate spill-over of flood waters has also not been calculated till date so how the current operations are going to save the people from the flood waters. At present, the river bed and flood channels have risen due to dumping of waste material over the last one century and sadly no dredging operations have been undertaken in right earnest since then.
Apart from the short-term measures, the state government and its agencies need to prepare a comprehensive plan for preventing repeat of the 2014 flood situation and undertake the works in a phased manner. At this stage, sight also cannot be lost of the fact that some of the low lying areas along the river course and flood channels have been colonized either by the government or the private parties during the past over a century and everything has been forgotten about the flood threats. The causeways and spillways have also been encroached upon by the people as well as the government departments and raised constructions which continue to face the threat of floods. These encroachments and habitations need to be relocated for allowing enough space for the flood waters, which might overflow from the river basin. The water supply pipes need a comprehensive review so that they can be relocated to prevent flooding from alternate water channels in the peripheral areas. Similarly, the government should give a serious thought to rehabilitation and restoration of water bodies which have been converted into dumping grounds making them disappear. The water bodies have been known to accommodate a major part of the rain and flood waters and prevent flooding the residential areas all across the valley. It is not out of place to mention that rehabilitation of the Dal Lake also needs to be undertaken on war footing so that backwater and back currents from the river do not lead to inundating of the catchment areas of the water bodies. The encroachments and unregulated construction on the banks of the water bodies has been a cause of major headache for the government for a pretty long time. This needs to be settled in an innovative manner so that population from Dal Lake can be rehabilitated in a satisfactory manner so that the inhabitants do not feel left out. Early remedial measures on flood protection can alone prevent flooding of the valley in future.