City submerges due to heavy rainfall. Normal life disrupts

 

Srinagar, August 1, CNS: Due to lack of proper drainage system in Srinagar, a few hours of turned half the city into a lake on Thursday. Most of the roads of the city remained water logged, disrupting traffic moment, while many areas of Srinagar were submerged due to the accumulation of rain water.

Markets, streets, intersections in the civil lines area were looking like ponds. Srinagar’s busiest area Lal Chowk remained water logged with rain water entering the shops and destroying goods worth lacs.

Lanes and by- lanes of the city remained water logged for hours, while Jehangir Chowk, Residency Road and Moulana Azad Road and various other link roads remained submerged for the day. Almost all the major streets of Srinagar city witnessed chaos due to heavy traffic jams.

Visibility due to heavy rainfall was so poor, that the traffic moved at the snail’s pace and commuters were seen struggling to reach to their respective destinations.

Although administration swung into action immediately and the personnel were seen putting in their hard efforts to pump out the water from the roads, but with continued heavy downpour for more than three hours, their efforts to achieve the objective seemed to go in vain.

Most of Lal Chowk's roads remained submerged completely. Rainwater accumulated on the streets in Sarai Bala, Lal Chowk, Hari Singh High Street, Regal Chowk, Residency Road, Samandar Bagh, Kokar Bazar, and adjoining roads had turned these into ponds, while shopkeepers of Sarai Bala and Goni Khan and Exhibition Crossings preferred to keep their shops closed.

Many shallow and lower areas of Srinagar city remained waterlogged and Administration put men and machines into service to pump out water from the water logged areas, which include Natipora, Abu Bakar Colony Naik Bagh, Mahboob Colony, Mahajore Nagar, Padshahi Bagh, restricting people to remain confined to their homes. In Umar Abad Zaina Kot, Firdousabad Batta Malo and adjoining areas, where water entered into the houses due to the failure of the drainage system.

People expressed their displeasure against Administration for failed to provide them relief. They said it is a routine now that when there is slight rainfalls, all the major roads of Srinagar city get water logged within minutes.

“On one hand announcements are being made to make Srinagar a smart city, but with a failed drainage system, we fail to understand how they will achieve this objective.” they said.

While the reason behind failure of drainage system in the city is believed to be choking of drains, due to the accumulation of solid waste in the drains, particularly polythene, which does not decompose, but Administration also proves to be failure in such critical situations. Although SMC has 115 pumps its disposal, but according to the sources on 25 were pressed into service yesterday.

Pertinently on last Thursday when asked about the reason for the poor performance of the Civic Body in emergency situations by CNS, Mayor Srinagar city Junaid Mattu had held bureaucracy and red tapism responsible for its failure.

“The Civil Servants we have at the helm of affairs here do not understand our problems, nor do have anything at stake, since their children don’t live here”. He had retorted.

“We have machines, but we don’t have adequate manpower, which makes us handicapped to handle emergency situations. Despite having a master plan for Srinagar in hand since long, there seems a lack of interest in Government to implement it. Not even a single meeting of different agencies has so far been convened in this context. How can the objective of a better city achieved, when the government seems to have no interest towards it.”  He added.

Junnaid Mattoo, while expressing his displeasure over the lack of support from the Government said, “Instead of asking me the questions about the problems city is faced with, you should put these questions to Commissioner Housing and Urban Development.”