Incessant rains throw life out of gear in Srinagar

Srinagar, Mar 15: Incessant rains in the summer capital took a heavy toll on commuters as they faced dilapidated roads, traffic jams and waterlogging.

As Srinagar received a significant amount of rainfall over the past few days, many areas, including the city centre areas, faced waterlogging. Defunct drainage system was blamed for waterlogging.

Despite major works done on roads and drainage in Srinagar under the Smart City project, many areas, including Downtown, Uptown, and the City Centre, are dotted with potholes and an inadequate drainage system. The roads at Khanyar, Nowhatta, Karan Nagar, Babademb, and Lal Chowk were waterlogged, and many potholes were developed.

The locals at Natipora, Bemina, HMT, also decried waterlogging on Saturday morning, which caused huge inconvenience to the residents.

“Despite pumping millions of rupees into augmenting roads and drainage, we are still facing waterlogging and bad roads. We hope that authorities will take serious measures. Otherwise, our suffering won’t end,” said Mudasir Ahmad, a local from Downtown.

The Srinagarites also criticised authorities, alleging that the substandard work on roads is wearing out. They said that roads at Batamalloo have developed huge potholes, which have created a risk of accidents for commuters.

Meanwhile, commuters in city center said that the caved-in road at MA Road near Sangarmal has turned into a cesspool, exposing the sub-standard work.

“This is the heart of the City and what we can expect from the outskirts. This road was developed anew under the smart city, and right now, it has turned into a cesspool with huge potholes and waterlogging. Small vehicles, especially e-rickshaws, are facing accidents amid huge potholes and risking the lives of passengers,” said Momin Farooq, a commuter at Lal-Chowk.

Officials from SMC Srinagar said that they had put men and machinery on the ground and cleared waterlogging via mobile and stationary dewatering pumps.

SMC Commissioner, Owais Ahmad while taking stock of the situation, told media that dewatering pumps are working round the clock to address waterlogging. “These dewatering pumps are fully backed up with uninterrupted power supply to keep them active round the clock. There are certain low-lying areas that are not connected to drainage, and we are dewatering them with dewatering pumps. We are also connecting new areas to the drainage network in the near future to address these issues,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar, Dr. Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat Saturday undertook a tour of various City areas to take on spot assessment of the situation arisen due to incessant rains from the last couple of days in the district and the measures taken to combat water logging in low lying areas and major roads.

The DC, who is also the Chairman District Disaster Management Authority, visited various areas of the City viz. TRC, Aramwari Rajbagh, Airport Road, Humhama, Barzulla I.G Road, and other adjoining areas. He also inspected important installations and took stock of the progress of storm water drainage in low lying areas of the City.

On the occasion, DC directed the concerned Officers for immediate compliance with regard to the measures to be taken for combating any inconvenience to the public and providing timely assistance to them.