As the aftermath of Kashmir flood disaster is unfolding, many surprising things are revealed that expose the inefficiency of the state administration in taking anticipatory steps to stem the ferocity of the calamity and loss suffered by a vast population. It has come to light that at lest 13 districts of the state were included in about one hundred districts of the country where the Governments concerned had been forewarned of their districts vulnerable to natural calamities. The 13 districts of Kashmir and Jammu had been identified as prone to rising waters in the upper catchments of the rivers Indus, Jhelum, Chenab and Tawi. Actually the low lying areas through which these rivers flow were marked as flood prone.
The warning given to the Government was for the purpose that adequate steps would be taken so that in anticipation of impending calamity, the chalked out plan could be set afoot and most of the people who otherwise would be vulnerable to disaster would be saved. Why the State Government did not heed the warning and why it did not take precautionary steps in time is a confusing situation. It is also believed that the Government agencies were somehow forewarned that the river Jhelum could run into spate. Whether the warning was rally there or not and from which quarter is not the real issue. The real issue is what steps the State Government had taken in good time to meet any kind of natural calamity and save as many lives as is possible. When the instructions were there, the Government should have in good time reacted to the warning note. Some steps like micro zoning of Jammu and Srinagar cities, land use planning and zonal regulation system could have been implemented. No action of this sort was ever attempted. Remote Sensing in its document submitted to the State Government as well as Union Ministry of Environment had also identified infrastructural gaps in addressing the risk mitigation for flood.
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