Published On:Tuesday, 14 October 2014
Post flood threats, Construction of Bund pits village against village
Srinagar: The devastating September 7 floods, have not only left horrific stories behind, but the post flood destruction has now given rise to conflicts between different villages over safety measures.
A similar story is reported from the twin districts of Pulwama and Shopian where several villages like Heff-Shirmal and Achan-Panjran are reportedly at logger heads against each other over the construction of the Bund on the River Ranbi Ara.
This river has devastated the agricultural land of the area. The fast flowing river has also changed its course of flow and is not very close to the Heff-Shirmal village.“ If God forbid a future flood occurs even of a small scale, our village (Heff-Shirmal) will be a major victim. Now the threat is to our houses and lives. We ask government to save our lives from future calamity,” said a local, Javid Ahmad.
In the recent floods the Ranbi Ara was flowing at its high. The river has damaged all it could and has left some of the villages at the razors edge.“If another flood occurs, even of a minor scale, it will surely devastate villages namely Heff, Shirmal, Aglar, Nikloora, Chillipora,” says Abdul Rashid, a local, who is also member of the local newly formed Auqaf committee.
He said as they got sanctioned the work and started construction of the bund, the other villages on the opposite side of the bank of the river have opposed and stopped the work without any reason. “They are safe as their residential houses are far from the river. I don’t know what forces them to do this. They want us to get drowned in future.
What kind of humanity is this? They in order to save some patches of their deserted land want our whole village to remain under the jaws of death,” he said.
Following the clashes between the two villages, it forced the local administration of both the districts of Pulwama and Shopian to intervene. “The administration has not also reached on any conclusion as they failed to convince the other party. The other group is not losing anything. But if the Bund is not constructed, the future floods will swept away some three villages. We are now in the mouth of Ranbi Ara,” said Muzammil Ahmad, a local.
Official sources said the Deputy Commissioner's of Pulwama and Shopian directed the concerned Tehsildars and Police officers to rush to the spot on Monday to diffuse the tension and resume the construction process.
When contacted Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Rohit Kansal said he would direct the Deputy Commissioner’s of both the district to ensure everything is smoothly conducted there.
“I have taken cognizance of the issue. I assure you that the administration will do its job to save the populace from the further catastrophe. People will not be allowed to take law in their hands,”Kansal told Kashmir Monitor over phone.
A similar story is reported from the twin districts of Pulwama and Shopian where several villages like Heff-Shirmal and Achan-Panjran are reportedly at logger heads against each other over the construction of the Bund on the River Ranbi Ara.
This river has devastated the agricultural land of the area. The fast flowing river has also changed its course of flow and is not very close to the Heff-Shirmal village.“ If God forbid a future flood occurs even of a small scale, our village (Heff-Shirmal) will be a major victim. Now the threat is to our houses and lives. We ask government to save our lives from future calamity,” said a local, Javid Ahmad.
In the recent floods the Ranbi Ara was flowing at its high. The river has damaged all it could and has left some of the villages at the razors edge.“If another flood occurs, even of a minor scale, it will surely devastate villages namely Heff, Shirmal, Aglar, Nikloora, Chillipora,” says Abdul Rashid, a local, who is also member of the local newly formed Auqaf committee.
He said as they got sanctioned the work and started construction of the bund, the other villages on the opposite side of the bank of the river have opposed and stopped the work without any reason. “They are safe as their residential houses are far from the river. I don’t know what forces them to do this. They want us to get drowned in future.
What kind of humanity is this? They in order to save some patches of their deserted land want our whole village to remain under the jaws of death,” he said.
Following the clashes between the two villages, it forced the local administration of both the districts of Pulwama and Shopian to intervene. “The administration has not also reached on any conclusion as they failed to convince the other party. The other group is not losing anything. But if the Bund is not constructed, the future floods will swept away some three villages. We are now in the mouth of Ranbi Ara,” said Muzammil Ahmad, a local.
Official sources said the Deputy Commissioner's of Pulwama and Shopian directed the concerned Tehsildars and Police officers to rush to the spot on Monday to diffuse the tension and resume the construction process.
When contacted Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Rohit Kansal said he would direct the Deputy Commissioner’s of both the district to ensure everything is smoothly conducted there.
“I have taken cognizance of the issue. I assure you that the administration will do its job to save the populace from the further catastrophe. People will not be allowed to take law in their hands,”Kansal told Kashmir Monitor over phone.
