Rains, gusty winds related mishaps

In a tragic incident a woman and her three minor children died when their " kutcha" house collapsed due to heavy rains in  Reasi district.  Two other persons were also injured in the mishap. Some more deaths have been reported in related mishaps after rains at other places.

Reports said the heavy rains, landslides and gusty winds caused  damage to residential houses , other structures and orchards in several parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Hailstorm also damaged the crop in several Jammu areas.

There is an immediate need to reach out to the affected people and provide relief to them. Gusty winds and rains continued on Sunday also in different areas causing more damage. The concerned authorities must send teams to affected areas to asses the losses so that the affected people are provided the relief.

This exercise should not be unnecessarily time consuming but speedily conducted so that the relief is provided well in time. It has been noticed that in March  heavy rains keep on occuring from time to time and so do the landslides and gusty winds, causing damage to residential houses and other structures.

Sometimes the Reasi like mishaps also occur and human lives are lost. Stopping such type of incidents is not in the control of administration but providing timely relief is in the hands of officials. Heavy rains have led to waterlogging in several areas of Kashmir valley including some parts of Srinagar city.

This problem needs a solution on permanent basis. Heavy rains will continue to occur and so will the waterlogging problem. Proper drainage system has to be established to solve the problem. It is important to replace the defective drainage system  and provide the drainage system in the areas, not having such a facility yet.

There is also a need to increase the number of dewatering pump stations and mobile pumps so that there is quick action. Roads become like ponds due to heavy rains. The movement of vehicles and pedestrians becomes difficult.

This leads to jamming. With the onset of spring there will be increase in the number of vehicles plying on roads. The waterlogging during rainy days will add to the problems on roads, which have to be addressed.