"Before Inviting Tourists, Please Take Care of the Hosts"

An editorial in the Rising Kashmir speaks about the chronic delusion otherwise called water logging in Srinagar

Srinagar waterlogged: This city urgently needs an integrated deep drainage system

The absence of integrated deep drainage system in Srinagar has led to the flooding of the streets and market places of this city. During past few days the consistent showers have made the life of a city dweller unimaginably difficult as the lanes and by lanes in the residential areas are completely submerged under the rainwater. Not just this, the main roads too have turned into pools of water. In such a situation, calling Srinagar a city is oxymoronic.

While talking to different officers that are working for various government departments related to managing the drainage network of Srinagar it comes to light that only a small portion of city is covered under deep drain network and rest of the areas are left unattended. Further, the dewatering stations that must be established at the terminal of every drainage network are not functional. In this kind of a situation inundation of roads and squares in Srinagar is bound to occur.

One aspect of the functioning of various related department is extremely off putting. The absence of any coherence between the working of these departments is at the bottom of things not improving in this regard. If a slew of departments are supposed to do the networking of deep drains in Srinagar without any proper coordination among them, how can a viable deep drainage system come about in this city? The absence of coordination has been talked about by the people of this state not once or twice, but consistently, as people have been witnessing the wastage of money, that actually belongs to them, when one department lays the road one day and the very next day another department digs it for some other purpose. It has been a salient feature of public works system in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

One simple question that comes to mind is that why can’t government coordinate different departments? In this era of speedy communication why is it difficult to get things done in a coordinated manner? The resources pumped in through various departments can be better utilized if there is a single point application of a project. If it is not possible to put in place another department that can act as an overarching organization, at least any project started by a government department should include works that normally fall under other departments, so that public work becomes a priority and not the official trappings. In case of the deep drainage system government need to integrate the departments first before the network is integrated. It should be the priority of this government to make Srinagar city worth living. Before inviting tourists, please take care of the hosts!