KL Report
SRINAGAR
Expressing serious concern over ineffective disaster relief management in Jammu and Kashmir, CPI (M) State Secretary Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami has said that the government must come clean on the critical gaps in its preparedness for calamities, especially the earthquakes.
In a statement issued here today, while referring to the massive earthquake that shook the Chenab valley region, Tarigami said, “Unfortunately the government has failed to devise an effective system to respond to the natural and manmade calamities despite adopting State Disaster Management Policy about a year ago.”
The CPI (M) leader has regretted over the reports that a proposal to set up a full-fledged and self-responsive State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) in Jammu and Kashmir to control the situations arising after natural or manmade disasters has been shelved off.
“The recent earthquake that struck Chenab Valley has exposed the tall claims made by the governments not only there were causalities but the quake caused huge damage to private and government buildings in the region”, Tarigami said.
“The state government approved three-tier Disaster Management Policy has not been able to provide a fool-proof mechanism to rescue, provide relief and rehabilitate to disaster-hit people in Chenab valley. There is no adequate infrastructure in place to deal with any kind of disaster in the state. The disaster management has been confined to the mock drills only and actually there is no effective mechanism to address the grievances of people on the ground,” he added.,” Tarigami observed while demanding a special package for the quake affected people of the region on the pattern of Leh.
