*Recommendations to help in future flood protection strategy
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Oct 5: Union Ministry of Water Resources headed by Uma Bharati has constituted a three-member high-powered group to assess the causes behind the unprecedented floods in Jammu and Kashmir and make recommendations for framing of strategy to prevent such catastrophe in future.
The group has immediately started work and sought hydrological data from the Jammu and Kashmir before planning visit to the State for the study vis-à-vis four rivers, which caused massive devastation early last month and have completely rendered the flood protection strategy of the State Government completely archaic.
The high-powered group has been constituted by the Union Water Resources Ministry in response to a letter of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah to the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi seeking experts’ help in finding the reasons behind massive floods and guiding the State Government in chalking out future strategy.
Highly placed sources told EXCELSIOR that the Ministry of Water Resources has framed three-member group comprising of Chairman, Central Water Commission, A B Pandya, Director National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, Er R D Singh and representative of Indus Commission.
Soon after framing the group, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Alok Rawat wrote to the Jammu and Kashmir Government asking it to nominate an officer, who would coordinate with the group and furnish the information required by the panel so as to ensure it to immediately start the work.
However, J&K Government has recommended two officers—Chief Engineers of Irrigation and Flood Control of Kashmir and Jammu regions on the ground that one officer cannot provide information required by the group about both the regions. “Now, the group has asked both these officers to furnish the hydrological data of the major rivers recorded during the recent floods and the data being considered earlier for flood protection works for its analysis”, sources said.
While the Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control of Kashmir province will submit data about the Jhelum river, his counterpart in Jammu region will furnish statistics about River Chenab, River Tawi and Surankote River, which caused massive devastation during the floods early last month, sources informed.
It is pertinent to mention here that EXCELSIOR had exclusively reported on September 25 that State Government is banking up river management experts’ suggestions on future flood protection works especially in the light of new challenges thrown up by the unprecedented floods in major rivers of the State. Before Chief Minister’s communiqué to the Prime Minister, the matter was also discussed with the Union Home Secretary during his visit to Srinagar and he was requested to facilitate the visit of Water Resources Ministry and Central Water Commission experts on river management.
“It would be only after examining the hydrological data about these four major rivers that the high-powered group would plan its visit to the State”, they said, adding “the group will submit its report to the Union Government by the end of current month and its recommendations would help State Government in chalking out future strategy vis-à-vis flood protection works”.
Stating that data sought by the group would be submitted within next one week, sources said, “the focus of the study is to look into what happened in the floods and how to prevent disasters of this scale in the future”.
As part of the study, the group would also analyze the proposal to channel the Jhelum river so that it would bypass Srinagar, sources said, adding “the diverted water would reach the river at a different place to protect the city from floods”.
According to the sources, proposal to divert Jhelum was mooted few years ago by the State Government but it could not progress as there was little follow-up with regard to the techno-economic details.
The challenges which the floods in these four rivers have thrown up, can be gauged from the fact that water level in Jhelum River touched 50 feet during the recent floods and such a level was never recorded during the past 100 years, sources said, adding “now future flood protection works are required to be planned by considering this figure”.
Similarly, water level of River Chenab touched 50 feet during the recent floods, which is the second highest ever recorded till date. In 1992, the water level touched 61 feet and that led to washing away of bridge on Chenab at Akhnoor.
As far as Surankote river is concerned, the water level for the first time touched 25 feet. Earlier, the water level in this river was recorded at 20.7 feet in 1992. Similar was the horrific face of River Tawi, whose water level was recorded at 32 feet.
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