Jammu: Authorities today said that 90 per cent area in Srinagar, which had been affected by the worst floods in Jammu and Kashmir, has been dewatered.
Almost 90 per cent waterlogged areas have been cleared of water and dewatering process is in full swing in rest of the areas in Srinagar, Chief Engineers told Commissioner Secretary, PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Dr Pawan Kotwal, during a briefing today.
They assured that the all the affected localities will be free from water within the next couple of days. They further maintained that restoration works on the breaches and cuts along the Jhelum river has also simultaneously started and most of the areas have been plugged.
Kotwal today conducted an extensive tour of affected areas of Srinagar city and took stock of the dewatering and restoration works.
Expressing satisfaction on the work, he asked the engineers to further speed up the dewatering process by taking in additional men and material.
He asked the engineers to keep strict vigil on the post-flood situation and plugging the breaches and cuts along the Jhelum River.
The areas visited by the Commissioner-Secretary included, Rajbagh, Kursu Rajbagh, Jawahar Nagar, Padshahi Bagh, Gogjibagh, Sonwar, Indira Nagar and Shivpora. Kotwal also interacted with the locals and appealed to them to coordinate with the department for speedy restoration and to adopt municipal norms while undertaking constructions, especially along the Jhelum river.
He also appealed to the people to voluntarily remove the encroachments from the irrigation land so that the sanctity of the river banks was maintained.
To face such challenges in future, government will frame a long term strategy, Kotwal said.
He said the department will work on new technologies to tackle flood situations in the state.
He clarified that the department took necessary and timely measures to prevent the flood, but the magnitude of water was so high and it was uncontrollable under the circumstances.
He said the department issued timely warnings to the people staying along the river to shift to the safer areas, but that did not work and ultimately the city faced the fury.
He admitted that this was unprecedented situation and state never witnessed such a tragedy. He maintained that the administration will have to work on new lines to prevent such devastation in future.
On the drinking water scenario aftermath the floods, the Commissioner Secretary said that most parts of the Srinagar city have been restored with regular water supply. Some parts are still affected, but the repair of pipes and other infrastructure is going on in full swing. He claimed that there is no serious crisis of water supply in the affected areas.
The government has made alternate arrangements of supply where the tap supply has not been maintained, he added.
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