Expedite Jhelum dredging, legislator tells officials

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 18

Expressing concern over the tardy progress in the mechanical dredging of the Jhelum, former minister and MLA, Amirakadal, Syed Altaf Bukhari, has asked officials to take immediate steps to get the project completed in time.

He said the people of Srinagar had faced the worst in terms of devastating damage to their lives and properties during the September 2014 deluge and now, they could not be left at the mercy of any executing agency that was working as per its own convenience and had so far shown distressing results.

Bukhari was chairing a meeting to review the progress of mechanical dredging aimed at increasing the carrying capacity of the river and its flood spill channels, particularly those crossing through the Amirakadal constituency. He stressed on immediate removal of obstacles that had so far delayed the overall progress in the achievement of desilting targets chalked out in this critical project.

“The lackadaisical attitude of the company that has been allotted the dredging contract has virtually put the life of the people of Srinagar in jeopardy. The present government is keen to see the timely completion of the project and has also shown its concern in this regard. Now, the department must act and get the desired results,” Bukhari added.

He asked the department to get the desired results out of the dredging project taking into consideration the level of devastation caused by the September 2014 floods in Kashmir, especially in Srinagar city.

“I don’t want to run away like my predecessor who left his electorate to face the wrath of calamity in September 2014. It could have been the precedence in the past but the present government will live up to its responsibilities and will not behave as a mute spectator while watching the imminent dangers,” he remarked.