Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Aug 29: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary and MLA Dooru, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, today urged the Centre to depute a national-level team to Jammu and Kashmir to assess the recent flood situation and devise a long-term plan tailored to the fragile Himalayan region.
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Speaking to reporters during his visit to flood-affected areas of his constituency, Mir said the Government must adopt a futuristic approach to safeguard people’s lives and livelihoods in the Valley. “In our account, India is showing an area of 62,000 sq km, whereas people have only 8,000 to 10,000 sq km available. The rest is mountains, rivers, drains, and forests. The little land left for people to live and farm is being washed away by floods. If a 100-year plan is not made, I do not think we will have anything left in the next 10-15 years,” Mir said.
He stressed that agriculture and horticulture, the main sources of livelihood for people in the region, have suffered massive losses due to recurrent floods. “Either houses will be built or floods will take them away. How will the people survive? A big project, a big survey, and a national-level team are needed to assess and plan for such disasters,” he added.
Mir also appealed to the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) to reconsider conducting examinations during the ongoing red weather alert. “Our demand is that the exams scheduled in the next 15-20 days should be held in line with weather advisories. Uncertainty will engulf children, negatively impacting their performance. The test should be conducted after 20th September,” he said.
The Congress leader also said that the issue of disaster preparedness should not be confined to Jammu and Kashmir alone. “All mountain states, including Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, have witnessed similar devastation. The Centre must come up with a permanent solution for these vulnerable regions,” he said.
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