Mohammad Ahseem

The mufti-led coalition government that is now in its third months has so far been unable to serve anything substantial to the common man. Except for the rhetoric expressive of lofty claims, nothing has been delivered on ground. Commoners have been pushed deeper into despair and dejection that overwhelmed the valley after the September 2014 floods. Initially PDP in a bid to secure a better bargain in the agenda of alliance took unprecedented time in the formation of government. This was at a time when cries of help were emanating from across the state devastated by the floods. People had pinned their all hopes on the new dispensation for the panacea to be delivered. For the destitute Mufti seemed to be not less than the messiah just about to emancipate the masses. But unfortunately after taking the reins of power, Mufti turned out to be just another politician that goes by the same old rules of governance. Whatever is said in the name of securing votes has always been bracketed in the state and Mufti is no exception.

The government seem to be oblivious to the common man’s priorities as if the corridors of power lie in some alien land. The renewed threat of flood is looming large and none seems to bother. A downpour of few hours creates panic among the people who have learnt to come to their own rescue now.  Within minutes of heavy rains, the city centre gets inundated and it is being watched as a routine now. The drainage system that cost crores of public money is dysfunctional to the extent of actually creating hurdles in the seepage of rain water. Even a drive to clean these drains has not been taken up so far, leave aside of taking expert advice in preventing water logging at important places in the city.

The condition of major roads as well as those in the interiors is pathetic. Even a 100 meter stretch of road in valley is not in proper shape and this doesn’t seem to bother those at the helm. Rather than putting its own backyard in order first, our CM has gone all out to lure guests. Dinners are being hosted to woo major players in Bollywood with the aim of highlighting Kashmir on the tourist map of the world. Even after a decade when the Rangarajan committee underlined the bad condition of roads as a bottleneck in the promotion of tourism industry, the 10 kilometre road stretch from Airport to city centre has never caught the attention of successive regimes.

The issue of government liabilities worth thousands of crores hasn’t been solved even partly. Huge delay is costing the state its meagre developmental activities. By preventing the money to flow into the system, the government is actually doing a disservice to the society. Instead what people have been given is some verbose dose on financing.

A substantial number of government school buildings are in bad shape after the flood waters left these uninhabitable. Most of these haven’t been cleaned properly. Rather than focussing on this urgency the people are being taught the lessons of idealism.

People need relief on the ground and not the verbal nonsense. It is better for Mufti and his team to realise the gravity of the situation as early as possible and focus on the pressing issues. Five years time isn’t too much for the people to forget and forgive.

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