Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senior leader and MLA Elect Amirakadal Syed Altaf Bukhari called on Governor N N Vohra here at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday. During his meeting Bukhari apprised the Hon’ble Governor comprehensively about various issues and the hardships being faced by flood affected families in Valley especially in his constituency Amirakadal. He said the snail’s pace rehabilitation work coupled with winter vagaries has led to manifold increase in miseries faced by the flood victims especially those families who were rendered homeless by the devastating floods.
Demanding a liberal compensation for the rehabilitation of the flood victims, the MLA Elect pleaded that the ex-gratia amount sofar disbursed to the flood affected families is not only meager but does not commensurate with the actual losses suffered by the flood victims. He stressed on an immediate need for the disbursement of full compensatory amounts to the flood hit families corresponding to the losses caused to their houses and other properties.The MLA Elect also invited Hon’ble Governor’s attention towards the escalating costs of construction material in the market and advocated for a review of previous government’s decision of supplying 100 cft timber to the flood victims. He said the quantity of timber approved by the previous government is highly insufficient given the Kashmir’s traditional architectural practices which are necessitated by the climatic conditions. “The quantity of concessional timber be reviewed so that the flood affected families are not compelled to procure the same from the markets on exorbitant rates,” Bukhari advocated.
The MLA Elect also suggested the Hon’ble Governor to involve the local cement players in facilitating the sale of cement on concessional rates to the deluge hit families. “With meager ex gratia amount in hand, the deluge hit families are not in a position to procure the requisite cement and other construction materials from the markets for repair works, renovation or rebuilding of their houses. So there is dire need to provide construction material especially the cement and timber on concessional rates to these families so that they can rebuild their shelters as quickly as possible,” Bukhari urged the Governor.Expressing serious concern over the scarcity of fuel and ration especially edibles like rice and sugar in government depots, Bukhari urged the Hon’ble Governor to consider the ground realities in arrangement review meetings convened by him. “Not to talk of free ration for the flood hit families as was announced by the previous government; people return from the government depots without any ration even on normal government rates because of non availability of ration. Similarly inhabitants of Srinagar especially in Amirakadal are complaining about shortage of essential commodities like rice, flour and kerosene oil,” Bukhari apprised the Hon’ble Governor, with a plea to direct the administration to make ration and fuel available to the people. The reports about curtailment in Kerosene also surfaced during the meeting.
Bukhari also demanded that the farmers associated with the horticulture and agriculture sectors who suffered extensive damages due to devastating floods in September be compensated without any delay. Similarly, the MLA Elect also raised the issues of flood shattered business community of Srinagar pleading for full compensation for their damaged shops and the stocks. On this occasion, the Governor assured that he will be very soon taking a review of rehabilitation work going on Valley. (CNS)