Srinagar, Mar. 15: Residents of Kashmir on Saturday continued their struggle to fight the incessant and unseasonal downpour and snowfall that has affected sewerage, drainage and other civic services, throwing life out of gear in the valley.
Rains and landslides have caused widespread damage to the private and government property in several districts where several residents have been forced to leave their houses and shift to safer heavens.
The residents in the valley complained of lack of proper initiatives taken by the state government as it has made the situation worse.
“Look at our condition. We have been fight ing for the last 15 years with the state government as it hardly pays heed to our concerns. Presently, there is water inside our homes. We are falling sick and children are unable to go to school but the government has hardly taken any initiative to address our issues,” said a resident of Srinagar, Kabir.
The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH44) is also closed for vehicular traffic for the last three days because of the landslides at several places, leaving several passengers and tourists stranded at different places. They have been waiting for the authorities to clean the way for them to continue their journey.
After the recent incessant snowfall in the state, there has been an unprecedented dip in the temperatures in Kashmir valley.
Kashmir has witnessed unexpected snowfall of over seven inches over the past few days, particularly in Srinagar.
The valley is under darkness for the third consecutive day and snow accumulated roads, and water logging has created difficulties for the people.
Meanwhile, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Shalinder Kumar, said the water-logging in the state is mainly due to lack of outflow channels in the valley.
“The reason for this is that we are in a bowl shaped valley and at the bottom of it water gets collected and whatever outflow channels we have, they are very slow. They are slow as water generally flows from top to bottom but in this situation all the mediums to take this water out are at a higher level and due to that whenever water gets clogged in Srinagar, we have problems in taking it out,” said Kumar.
On March 11, authorities had issued warnings regarding avalanche strikes to various areas in the higher reaches and had asked people not to roam about on steep slopes.
The bad weather has also hit power and water supply in Kashmir and sewerage, drainage and other civic services have also come to a breakdown.
