National calamity

Entire Jammu region has witnessed heavy rains especially in upper reaches of mountains, flooding the rivers and nullahs. Tawi, Ujh and Basantar and other smaller seasonal nullahs have turned into roaring oceans, sweeping everything that came in their way. Incessant rains, floods, landslides and house collapses have been the scene in many parts of Jammu region, Lakhanpur, Kathua, Udhampur, Rajouri and other places. Traffic on national highway and link roads has been disrupted and life has been temporarily paralyzed in the areas where incessant rains have struck.
Monsoon rains are a boon as well as a curse. We are often told that the administration is geared to the exigency of situation that might arise out of a natural calamity. Rains or flash floods or landslides are the fury of nature and nobody can control them.  Nevertheless alert administration can help minimize the suffering of the victims of these calamities. Around twenty persons are reported to have been killed by flash floods and many houses have collapsed in various incidents in Kathua (Lakhanpur), Udhampur and Rajouri districts. About three dozen houses are reported to have collapsed in which many were buried. Timely help may have rescued them though reportedly in some cases locals have rushed to the help of the affected people. It is reported that in one or two instances local level officers have visited the affected sites, sympathized with the people and assured them that their cases would be referred to the Government for financial assistance. In one or two cases the DC concerned has given small amount by way of relief from Red Cross funds. But by and large, the Government machinery has not taken note of the tragedy as it should have and has not so far announced adequate relief which should have been immediately provided to the victims.
The Government has not announced any financial assistance to the next of kin of  persons killed and others injured. No financial relief is announced to the wounded who are receiving treatment in hospitals, no relief is announced for those whose residential houses have collapsed and no relief is announced for those whose crops have been severely damaged by the flash floods. One fails to understand why the administration has not paid attention to the tragedy that has befallen the people. Essentially it should have been the job of the respective Panchayats to bring the matter to the notice of the authorities. If the Panchayats were provided with contingency funds to meet urgent needs in case of some natural calamity, it is possible that at least some of the people who were buried under the debris of collapsed houses might have been saved.  It is also important to note that even if local authorities like the DC or the Tehsildar or the SHO did visit the spot and made a report to the government, the implementation part of relief work should not be left to paper work and passing the buck from one quarter to another. In such cases immediate relief is needed and it should come in proper time.
It is also to be noted that there is no early warning mechanism in place with the Meteorological Department which would induce the population of flood prone and vulnerable areas to withdraw to secure places away from the line of flash floods. The weatherman is hardly functional in the state and it appears that the government has not made any survey of more vulnerable areas in the region where local population needs to be alerted with the onset of monsoons. We would, therefore, advise the government to have good and functional weather monitoring system in place and its linkage to the police and civil authorities in vulnerable places so that in anticipation of heavy rains and floods people are evacuated to safer zones to avert loss of life.
Finally, one hopes that elected representatives of the people to the legislature from calamity affected areas will impress upon the government to consider the case of providing relief to the people who have suffered the natural calamity. MLAs, irrespective of party affiliations, should be unanimous in demanding that the Government follow the normal policy of providing relief to the affected people. The Government should have taken the initiatives without promptings from the media as it normally does. It should not give any opportunity to its critics to bring the  accusation of discrimination to its doorstep.

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