Srinagar: Expressing concern over abrupt rise in water level in River Jhelum, the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged government take preventive measures on war footings.
In a statement issued here by KCCI, the group said that it was appalling to see that few millimetres of rainfall has caused such an abnormal rise.
“The water disbursal, drainage system appears to be totally choked,” Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad, President KCC&I said.
The government should initiate preventive measures on war footing. The wastage of substantial amounts of public money on ineffectual measures also needs to be looked in to and responsiblity fixed,” Ashiq said, addign that there is an apparent adhocism in planning which has to be corrected before it is too late.
“Post 2014 floods, a lot of flood prevention and disaster management measures have been announced. These include dredging of river Jhelum, consruction of storm drains, increasing the water intake capacity of Wular lake, etc,” they said.
But even after the passage of five years, they said, the water absorption capacity of our rivers, drainage system and flood channels appears to have been drastically reduced rather than having increased.
“The dreding operation seems to be a total failure. As are other short and long terms flood control measures.”
