Locals fear breach in ‘repaired’ Jhelum embankments
I&FC dept says no fear of breaches
The construction and strengthening of embankments on river Jehlum by the Irrigation and Flood Control department in the wake of last year’s devastating floods has drawn flak as breaches haven’t been repaired properly, locals said Sunday.
The fresh downpour in Kashmir has left most of the Srinagar areas including the commercial hub LalChowk submerged, triggering panic among local residents and businessmen.
“The Irrigation and Flood control department didn’t construct the embankments properly. The breaches were filled with ordinary soil while no concrete work was done to strengthen the embankments,” residents living along Jhelum banks in Srinagar said.
“Given the present situation created by continuous rains, the so-called repaired embankments can again breach any time,” said Muhammad Yaseen, a resident of AbiGuzarLalChowk.
“The embankments should have been strengthened properly so that there was no fear of breaches,” said Muhammad Amir, a resident of Rajbagh.
During the last year’s devastating deluge, Jehlum breached at several places near Shivpora, Rajbagh and GPO but the restoration work on embankments was not carried out properly, locals said.
Chief Engineer Irrigation and Flood Control department JavidJaffer however said the embankments were repaired properly.
“Under temporary restoration, we filled the spaces with good quality soil,” he said.
He said the department used compacters while concrete walls were also erected as some places for permanent restoration of embankments. “Work is going on at some places. The embankments are strong and there is no threat of breaches,” he said.
