Senior PDP leader and Member Parliament Tariq Hameed Karra Saturday called for immediate dewatering of the inundated localities in and around the Srinagar city to prevent further devastation.According to a statement issued to KNS Karra said the continued deluge in and around various areas of Srinagar city is not only posing an epidemic threat but can result in massive damage to the residential houses whose owners have already suffered immensely because of the devastating floods.He said the community initiatives on rescue, relief and rehabilitation, although laudable, were proving inadequate given the enormity of the tragedy. “What could be more ironical than the fact that the State Government has failed to restore normality even in its seat of power – the civil secretariat,” he said and added that the government is still unable to comprehend the impact of the floods and extent of devastation, which is being compounded now by its administrative inaction.
In Srinagar, Karra said, the main business centers around Lal Chowk, Badshah Chowk, Hari Singh High Street, Residency Road, Moulana Azad Road continue to be filled with water with the result that the shops and business establishments are not able to revive their activity. The business establishments have suffered a huge loss in the recent floods but the inaction on the part of government has even snatched their opportunity to retrieve whatever goods might have survived the calamity.Along with the continued inundation of residential areas like Rajbagh, Jawahar Nagar, Gogjibagh, Batamaloo, Karan Nagar, Bemina and Qamarwari the inability to dispose of dead animals has made it impossible for the survivors even to visit these areas not to speak of picking of threads of life again, he added.
Karra said heavy duty pumps needed to be deployed but it seems that there is lack of coordination between centre and state governments as hardly any major dewatering machinery is in evidence anywhere functional in the affected areas.Stressing the need for depoliticizing the relief and rehabilitation efforts at various levels, Karra said the PDP Parliamentarians and legislators are ready to work in coordination with the government in this hour of need to mitigate the sufferings of the people.He also called for immediate restoration of healthcare and communication facilities in Kashmir as the lack of these facilities is adding to the miseries of the people. (KNS)