The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on Monday critcised the Jammu & Kashmir Government for not taking sufficient measures on the forewarning of the meteorological department about “more than normal” heavy showers during the recent floods.
The panel’s report tabled in Parliament also asked the Centre “not to shrug off its responsibility” in re-building the flood-ravaged State. Reacting to the report Chief Omar Abdullah said it was not correct in blaming the State alone. “The Committee wishes to point out that the paradise on earth has collapsed due to the flood and the Government has to rebuild the paradise in order to attract tourists not only from the country but also from abroad.
“The Committee, therefore, strongly recommends that a special Action Plan or a project should be prepared both by the State Government and the Central Government, covering all the aspects of tourism while rebuilding the State,” the 182nd report of the panel on rescue and rehabilitation in the aftermath of floods said.
The State Government did receive the forecast that normal rain would be “more than heavy” but it continued for nearly six days, the State Government representative had informed the panel.
However, the panel expressed concern that the State Government did not take sufficient pre-emptive measures to withstand the fury of the nature. Reacting to the report, Omar said, “If the State Government was sleeping, what were the Central departments doingIJ Why did the Army not evacuate its personnel from the places that were submerged under floodwatersIJ
“If I have to be blamed for failing in my duties to stop the rain from coming, I accept it then,” he said. The panel also noted that since the State is “strategic and sensitive”, therefore, it needs to be rebuilt without any procrastination.
The Parliamentary panel also felt that States like Jammu and Kashmir are “not well prepared to combat natural disasters and such States should not be caught on sleeping mode at the time of disaster. It also asked the Centre to formulate a comprehensive National planning with resilient system for better disaster management throughout the country, irrespective of the frequency of disasters in a particular area of region.