Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 4 : Amid heavy rains, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, on Thursday, during his visit to the flood-affected areas in Srinagar, stated that while there has been no loss of life, property had suffered severe damage.
"Administration has been on the ground. People were evacuated from their houses at the right time. There has been no loss of life. There indeed has been a loss of property. We will have to decide whether the team being sent by the Centre to assess damage to properties in 10 districts of Jammu...through a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, I will urge him to send the same team to Kashmir. Kulgam, Anantnag, Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Bandipora, which have suffered damage due to flooding, be assessed and then a relief package for Jammu as well as Kashmir divisions be sanctioned by the Centre," Abdullah told while speaking to reporters here.
The CM criticised the lack of preparedness by the central government, questioning what was done in the last 11 years.
"After that, we will have to question what was done for the last 11 years?... Today it seems that these 11 years were wasted. First of all, I will conduct a review next week regarding the work done in 11 years; we will have to take concrete steps to ensure that we do not face this situation after just two days of rain. We will begin the preparations from today itself..." he further added.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary, raising questions over the work done by the Central government, alleged that they had only made claims, further stating that the people of the union territory had suffered a lot.
"People of J&K have seen a lot of things...We would not want the coming generation to face what we are facing. The Goverment here after 2014, the BJP-PDP Govt and the LG Rule after that which made tall claims that they have brought in a lot of changes in J&K - water is entering villages here and even in Jammu there is flooding...So, this raises questions about their claims for the last 11 years...Omar Abdullah is among people not for photo session but for expressing sympathies to them, so that they don't feel that they are alone...A blueprint will be made so that people do not have to face this again and again..." Choudhary told reporters.
Advisor to the CM, Nasir Aslam Wani, said that no action had been taken on the flood mitigation plan 11 years ago, further stating that a new plan would be prepared to avoid any such situations in the future.
"Preparation for this (flood) could not have been done in 7-8 months or a year. This was the work for last 11 years. A flood mitigation plan was made 11 years ago...but nothing was done. With just a little rain, in last 10 days, we faced a flood-like situation twice. CM has inspected the area now. We will prepare a renewed flood mitigation plan..." Wani told ANI.
Continuous heavy rainfall has been witnessed in several parts of Jammu and Kashmir, with rivers swelling and flash flood-like conditions reported across multiple districts.