SRINAGAR: Commissioner Secretary PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Dr. Pawan Kotwal on Thursday conducted an extensive tour of various flood affected parts of Srinagar city and took stock of the de-watering and restoration works.
While expressing satisfaction on the pace of works, Dr. Kotwal issued necessary instructions to the engineers to further speed up the pace to restore normalcy in all the affected areas. He directed for pressing additional men and material for speedy de-watering the waterlogged areas. He called for a well-knit strategy and coordinated efforts for achieving the better results. He asked the engineers to keep strict vigil on the post-flood situation and plugging the breaches and cuts along the Jhelum River expeditously.
The areas visited by the Commissioner/Secretary included, Rajbagh, Kursu Rajbagh, Jawahar Nagar, Padshahi Bagh, Gogjibagh, Sonwar, Indira Nagar and Shivpora etc. He also interacted with the locals and appealed them to coordinate with the department for speedy restoration of works. He appealed to the people to adopt municipal norms while undertaking constructions, especially along the River Jhelum so that no similar catastrophic situation is faced. He also appealed to the people to voluntarily remove the encroachments from the irrigation land so that the sanctity of the river banks was maintained.
Regarding the quantum of damages and losses to the infrastructure and assets, Dr. Kotwal maintained that as per preliminary assessment the loss has been worked out to the tune of Rs. 2614 crore to both the sectors viz; PHE and Irrigation and Flood Control. The total loss will be worked out after a rigorous survey for which the department is already on the job, he maintained.
Meanwhile, Chief Engineer I&FC has said that the department is in the process of plugging cuts/breaches and many of the cuts have been completely restored. He said cuts/breaches are being plugged/restored to avoid any back water entry from river Jhelum.
He said the process of plugging cuts at Kursu, Rajbagh, Jawahar Nagar, LD hospital, Gowkadal, Shivpora, Athwajan, Batmaloo etc is underway. He said cuts/breaches at Peerzoo, Alochibagh, Bashikol, Gangbug, B&J, old Barzulla, Hajibagh, Batpora, etc have been completely plugged after draining out flood waters from these areas.