Srinagar,National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said the government has not learnt any lesson from the 2014 devastating floods.
Omar said this during his visit to the flash flood-affected areas in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
He demanded adequate compensation for the people hit by the floods
“The affected families must get the compensation to start their life again”, Omar told media persons.
According to official reports, 51 villages of the Kupwara district have been partly affected, while 5 villages were fully affected by the floods in Handwara occurred due to the incessant moderate to heavy spells of rains during the past few days in Kashmir valley. Floods have also damaged some major infrastructure assets in the district including vital bridges.
The former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said they have not forgotten the devastating floods that hit the Kashmir valley in 2014.
“However, I am surprised that we have not learnt from those devastating floods. It looks like the authorities slept after the 2014 floods with the feeling that the water will not rise anymore hereafter’, Omar said.
“The weather is changing worldwide. What happened in Dubai a few days back despite being a desert? Dubai recorded 18 days of rainfall in just one day. The weather is changing and we should also change our thinking,” he said.
Asked whether the floods should be declared a “natural calamity”, Omar said that “I don’t have to do anything with that…it is a disaster, but whether you declare it or not is the duty of the government, people should be compensated and that has to be decided by the government”.
He said that his main aim would be that people who suffered damage due to the floods should get compensation from the government.
“I halted my election campaign and decided along with my party colleagues to visit flood-marooned Handwara to take the on-spot assessment of the situation. I visited the affected people and wherever we could help the people will be done”, the NC Vice President said.
He stressed the administration to prepare a comprehensive flood management programme for the Handwara area. He said this will not be possible overnight but after going through the situation it has been observed that comprehensive flood management for this area is necessary.
He said he had not come here on Tuesday to campaign to ask people to vote. “I just come here to express my sympathy with the people affected by the floods and wherever we could use our resources to provide relief to the marooned families will be the main aim of our party”, he said.
Omar said he will be submitting the nomination papers for the Baramulla Lok Sabha Constituency on May 2 and will start the campaign on May 6.