Again no contingency plan
Again there was no advance planning by the Government officials to ensure snow clearance was done properly during recent snowfall? In spite of the fact that there was clear warning of huge snowfall between 22 to 24 January 2026 from meteorological department and private weather forecasters, the authorities took it casually. Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir Surinder Choudhury recently warned Govt officials over the “lack of preparedness” for snowfall. It sounds so funny. He is the Govt himself and should take moral responsibility for this failure along with the Chief Minister. No blame games are accepted
“I had clearly instructed the Chief Engineer during a meeting to prepare for snow. They made big promises that they were ready. But after a little snowfall, their condition is exposed. A cry for help has started from everywhere,” said the Deputy Chief Minister while talking to the media in Srinagar post Jan 23rd snowfall. It is now more than a week since the Deputy CM issued this statement, what action has he taken?
The dull snow clearance work and inaction on part of the Government authorities have exposed the system of governance, especially the contingency plan of the Govt. The top Govt officials conduct snowfall related meetings right from November every year but these meetings are held only for a formality. The officers who attend these meetings especially DCs, Chief Engineers and others hardly show seriousness afterwards. This is mainly due to the fact that in the last several years Kashmir didn’t witness a heavy snowfall and it is assumed by Govt officials that snowfall will hardly close down roads for days and weeks?
But this time the snowfall was heavy especially upper reaches of Kupwara, Baramulla, Budgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, Anantnag and Bandipora districts. Srinagar had no snowfall or mild around Jan 23rd and all the machinery available could have been diverted towards nearby areas of Budgam or Pulwama, but this didn’t happen as was evident from the fact that some roads in Chararsharief area of Budgam remained closed for 3 to 4 days?
Coordination between RDD & R&B
In the last 10 years I have written almost one dozen articles on utilization of funds under MG-NREGA for snow clearance work. The MG-NREGA has now been replaced with the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act 2025 also called V B-GRAM-G. The law was passed both in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and got the assent of the President as well. During the last one decade I have not only written about it but I have done a lot of advocacy as well. I made video reports, sought information under RTI Act, met local MLAs, MP’s as well. In January 2022 I met with Mr Mohammad Akbar Lone, the then Lok Sabha MP from Baramulla, and on my request he wrote a detailed letter to Union Minister for Rural Development Mr Giriraj Singh urging him to include snow clearance work under NREGA.
Even after 3 days of the snowfall around Jan 23rd 2026 , people from Branwar Jabbad, Ledden Doba, Watkaloo Kralgam, Chalyan Choontinad in Chararsharief Budgam kept sending me photos and videos of blocked roads. People were carrying ailing on their backs in 5 feet of snowfall. While I was myself in Bhuj Kutch, Gujarat, I posted these pics, videos on social media to sensitize the govt officials. This in fact helped in some cases but why isn’t the Govt proactive? Is it necessary that someone must first expose them and then only work would be taken up?
Challenges & Suggestion
When I see this issue very closely I observe there are many technical issues involved. The roads are narrow in villages, there are only a handful of snow cutting machines. The houses and shopping complexes have been built on roadside. Even if the snow cutting machines clear snow, it gets piled up on road sides. Then the snow from rooftops of houses and shops will come down and make these snow piles monster like structures. It melts slowly and causes water logging, damaging the bitumen road surface. So I see the manual clearing under V B GRAM G as the only option to get rid of it and both have to go together? We need coordination between PWD, R&B & Rural Development Department-RDD as people won’t work on little wages provided under VB GRAM G. R&B Department can also pool in funds and work can be executed jointly. These are the management plans DCs can formulate and they are being trained to do this, but on ground they don’t execute these plans?
Rozgar Guarantee in Winter
During winter months, especially in snowfall-hit areas, people are often jobless. The preamble of NREGA now called VB GRAMG Act 2025 is to ensure employment guarantee (Rozgar Guarantee), but the government focuses more on physical asset creation. We cannot have a uniform policy for the entire nation, as India is diverse and geographically distinct. The programs under VB GRAM G in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, or Kerala cannot be replicated in Himalayan states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, or J&K? It is essential to make changes to the operational guidelines of this flagship program. In winter months, who will guarantee employment for rural population in snowbound areas, where life comes to a halt for 3–4 months? This is not the case in other states. VB GRAM G would not only help government agencies clear snow from rural link roads without difficulty but also fulfill the paramount purpose of the scheme by providing livelihoods to locals & ensuring Rozgar Guarantee. It is very important that during snow clearance work, snow should be carried in trucks and dumped in isolated locations as clearance work by machines piles up snow on roads and in market places and causes water logging. So we need both machinery as well as manpower to clear snow and both have to support each other’s work
Conclusion
Some officers in Rural Development Department (RDD) J&K claim that clearing snow from lanes, roads, and public spaces cannot be included under VB GRAM G ( erstwhile NREGA) as it does not lead to the creation of physical assets? Timely snow clearance across all snowbound areas and ensuring employment to people in harsh weather conditions is also an asset ? Saving bitumen roads from getting damaged due to snow accumulation is also an asset. The authorities need to keep these things in mind?
Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow and Chairman J&K RTI Movement
