Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Sept 23: After de-watering Badami Bagh Cantonment, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) today shifted its major water pump having capacity of draining out 70, 000 liters of water per minute to worst affected Jawahar Nagar and Rajbagh areas.
An ONGC official said that the pump was installed at Badami Bagh Cantonment and was shifted today to Jawahar Nagar area to drain water from here. He said that the pump has the capacity to drain out over 70,000 litres of water per minute.
Jawahar Nagar, Rajbagh, Gogjibagh and its adjacent areas continue to be inundated for 17th consecutive day today and despite operating over two dozen of water pumps in the area the water is receding gradually. The draining of water was started 9 days ago when two ONGC pumps with each pump having the capacity to drain out 10, 000 liters of water per minute besides over two dozen Fire and Emergency Service pumps.
Government had also cut flood channel banks at three places in Jawahar Nagar and Kursu and Jhelum at two places in Rajbagh. However, water level in these inundated areas is still 3-4 feet. Residents are concerned about the safety of their houses.
The water from Bemina, Batmaloo and other areas is not receding and only few Fire and Emergency Service pumps have been deployed there for de-watering.
Zoona Begum, Boatman colony told Excelsior that her house has developed cracks as water fails to recede. “Her two storey house was under 12 feet water and her son was making electric transformers and all of them were destroyed in floods”, she said. She said that they didn’t get any relief and water fails to recede.
Another person Abdul Rashid said that he has lost everything as his single storey was destroyed in the floods and he along with his wife and three daughters took shelter on the roof for several days. “We didn’t get any relief as we are living in the interior area”, he added.
In the meantime, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) today said that it has launched a massive cleanliness and sanitation drive in Srinagar city and collected and disposed off 29,800 metric tonnes of garbage between September 15 to 22.
The SMC has put into service a fleet of 145 heavy duty vehicles for collection of garbage from various parts of the city. “As many as 49 de-watering pumps are functional out of 76 while 22 mobile pumps have also been pressed into service at different places,” a statement said.
The statement said disinfectants have been used on large scale in flood affected areas. “91 Drums of Black Phenyl, 6,000 kgs of Sanitreat (Deodorant), and 2,000 liters of White Phenyl have been used to disinfect Srinagar city,” the statement adds.
The SMC has so far removed 515 animal carcasses from various parts of the city. As a pre-emptive measure, the core workforce of the SMC has been provided Tetanus Toxoid and Hepatitis-B vaccines.
In the meantime, Power Development Department has suffered Rs 300 crores damage to its infrastructure and has restored power supply to 80 percent flood hit areas of Kashmir.
Chief Engineer PDD, Bashir Ahmad Khan, said that the department has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 300 crores. “Around 3000 distribution transformers are damaged and most of them were submerged under water. Sixty per cent of these damaged transformers can be repaired and rest will be replaced with the new ones”, he said.
Khan said out of 229 power receiving stations 40 were submerged under water and 214 have been charged and 15 are still uncharged. “We have also received machinery and material for restoration of electricity supply. We have already distributed some 12000 electricity poles in areas where poles have been damaged by floods,” he added.
The PDD Chief Engineer said Rajbagh, Jawahar Nagar, Mehjoor Nagar, Kursu, Lasjan, Padhshahi Bagh, Bemina, Tengpora and Hamdaneya Colony are still inundated and the PDD trying to restore electricity.
Khan said power has been restored in 75 percent area of Srinagar, 90 percent Shopian, 85 percent Pulwama, 90 percent Anantnag, 90 percent Kulgam, 85 percent Bandipora, 95 percent Ganderbal, 95 percent Baramulla, 95 percent Kupwara and 95 percent Budgam.
President Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan today said that flood affected hospitals should be disinfected before reopening as per “Flood Remediation Protocols” to prevent post flood Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI).
DAK President said that the improper decontamination of hospitals will put patients and doctors at risk of infections. “The surfaces of hospitals have to be disinfected with disinfectants like bleach followed by air drying and HEPA vacuum. High risk units of hospitals have to be disinfected by special decontamination like Hydrogen Peroxide Vaporization”, he added.
“Porous material like linen, insulation have to be discarded and non porous material like metal, glass, plastic have to be decontaminated before use. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning system has to be examined for molds by air samples and mold remediation measures are to be adopted”, said DAK president.
Follow our WhatsApp channel