Heavy rainfall submerges city; citizens enraged

Srinagar, Aug 07: Water logging caused by the heavy rainfall on Tuesday morning has again exposed the lack of proper drainage system in the city.

Rainfall immediately submerged the roads and by-lanes in many uptown and downtown areas, later resulting in traffic issues.

Jehangir Chowk, Regal Chowk, Ghanta Ghar, Raj Bagh, Jawahar Nagar, Baba Demb, Saraf Kadal, Eid Gah, Rajouri Kadal, and Safa Kadal were among the worst-hit.

“Water accumulated on the roads and made its way into our homes,” said Ghulam Nabi at Banmohalla, Baba Demb.

At Regal Chowk, pedestrians and shopkeepers said the drainage system has totally failed.

“What is the fun of spending a huge amount if it does not serve any purpose? You can see how difficult it is for the pedestrians to walk around here. Even cars are struggling to move,” said a pedestrian, Bashir Ahmad.

A shopkeeper at Ganta Ghar, Gowhar Ashraf said the administration has not learnt lessons from the past.

“We have not learnt anything from the September 2014 floods. We wake up at the time of eventualities.  The need of the hour is to be prepared in advance. We should work for the betterment of drainage system in and around Srinagar city,” he said.

Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Riyaz Wani, said the downpour was heavy.

“We have a limited carrying capacity. More than 100 dewatering pumps have been pressed into service. Due to power failure, the dewatering work was delayed by half an hour,” he said.

About water logging at Lal Chowk and its adjoining areas, he said the drain was under-construction.

“It would be ready by the end of November,” he said.