Asserting that the blocked flood channels here need to be restored to save Srinagar from floods in future, flood and irrigation department Friday said that the people themselves have began to realize that they committed blunders by violations nature’s norms.Talking to KNS, chief engineer Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) Mir Javid Jaffer said that the efforts must be prioritized to revive the flood channels so that any nature’s fury in future could be averted to large extent.He added that the flood waters have shown the path of the water flow in Srinagar and the illegal constructions and encroachments alongside the flood channels in valley have acted as the spoil sport during the recently witnessed devastating floods. “We have to move back to the earlier era when the flood channels were functional. If we have to save ourselves, these channels must be restored at an earliest,” CE said.
Meanwhile, Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Sharma told KNS that serious efforts are being made to end encroachments along river Jehlum and other flood channels including Dodh ganga. He said that the state government must put an end to the illegal constructions that have been witnessed during the past on these channels.The minister added that a flood channel from South Kashmir’s Dogripora to Wullar is also being constructed with the estimated cost of 2200 crore. He said that this channel wills lesser the water levels of the main river during the times of floods.
Nullifying the reports that a warning to the inhabitants of flood prone areas was not issues, Sharma claimed that on September 4, when water levels crossed the danger mark, announcements were made to the people to leave homes in various areas of valley. “ We even used loud speakers of mosques to caution people and ask them to leave but they at large remained reluctant. They cared little about the repeated warnings, perhaps thinking that floods never enter homes that to in posh areas.” (KNS)