| News Details |
| AMM holds post-flood review meeting | | Asks Union Govt to respond to humanitarian crisis |
Srinagar, October 22, (Scoop News)- Censuring the central government for its sluggish response to post-flood situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the Awami Mutahida Mahaz (AMM) has asked the union government to take necessary steps to reach out to the worst hit families before the snowfall of this winter. The Mahaz also urged the union government to adopt the same yardsticks in allowing international aid to Kashmir like it was allowed in many States of the country during their worst natural calamities.
Attended by Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, Hakim Mohammad Yaseen, Sheikh Ab Rehman, Ab Rehman Tukroo and Khalid Tufial the post-flood review meeting of AMM expressed serious concern on the plight of flood hit families on Tuesday. Addressing the meeting, the AMM leaders observed that there is a general perception in the State particularly in Kashmir valley about a discriminatory attitude adopted by the central government and this contention gets further reinforced by the union government’s tardy response to the post flood situation in the state.
The AMM leaders said that while the union government responded immediately to the disasters that stuck many a states like Bihar, Uttrakhand and other states, the central government’s cold shoulder and lackadaisical approach has been reflected by not allowing the foreign aid meant for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the devastated infrastructure.
The meeting also reprimanded the state government for making announcements without any mechanism for their implementation on the ground. “Complaints galore especially from flood affected districts of the Valley wherein people allege of ration and fuel shortage. While the government announced free ration for six months, the people say that they are denied this relief even against the payment. They were also demanding tents to survive the winter,” the AMM meeting observed while adding that one fails to understand why two governments have not fulfilled this elementary duty even a month after floods.
Asking the central government to declare J&K floods as national disaster which will help in rehabilitation of the flood-affected people, the meeting remarked that the losses suffered due to the floods in Kashmir in agriculture, horticulture, housing, business and other sectors can exceed the 1 trillion mark and the same cannot be rebuild or reconstructed without union government’s liberal funding and the international aid.
Referring to the studies of Asian Development Bank, the AMM leaders said that the actual losses suffered in any natural calamity are 2.5 times higher than the ground assessments and the only way to provide succor to flood hit people is to respond to the situation with unprejudiced financial-relief package.
Taking an exception to the government’s coldhearted reaction to the shattered business community, the AMM meeting observed that the quantum of business in Kashmir worth Rs 30000 crore was hit by the flood of which only Rs 17000 crore is insured and the government seems unmoved by the plight of traders. “If not the full compensation, the government could have ensured some interim financial reimbursement till a final call is taken on their compensation,” the meeting opined.
The meeting also called for a serious consideration to the demands of the traders’ community primarily to the demand of 10-year income tax exemption for Kashmir and banks be directed to follow the RBI guidelines for dealing with loan accounts in calamity-hit areas.
The meeting also called for some immediate lodging arrangements for the families whose houses have collapsed or have developed massive damages and are unsafe to live in the winter. “Families who have lost their houses and those who are displaced should get immediate relief in terms of suitable accommodation to cope up the winter vagaries. Some makeshift weather friendly arrangements can also be worked out to accommodate them and all the measures must be taken before the first snowfall of this winter in the valley,” the meeting remarked.
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