Srinagar: Following the recent rainfall on Monday and Tuesday in Srinagar inundating most of the areas in City’s, both down and uptown areas causing widespread waterlogging that disrupted normal life across the city, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said an inquiry will be ordered into the Srinagar Smart City Project once the weather improves.
Kashmir Images had done a detailed report (Tuesday, 21 July issue) about waterlogging, suggesting the authorities Mizhgan to khol, shahr ko sailaab le gaya. (open your lids and see, the city has been flooded). It seems authorities have finally woken up.
The Chief Minister said, “The inquiry will be ordered. Let the weather clear first. This is not an ordinary issue. We will conduct a thorough probe and then take collective action,” CM told reporters.
The Chief Minister said the Council of Ministers had already decided in its last meeting to carry out a third-party audit of the project, though the audit is yet to be formally ordered.
“The Cabinet felt there is a gap between what the project intended and its actual position. That is why a third-party audit will be ordered to check its effectiveness,” he said.
CM also questioned the utilisation of Smart City funds, saying that except for the Jhelum riverfront project, it was unclear where the money had been spent.
“Unfortunately, those who conceived and implemented the project are not here to answer. We inherited only about 10 per cent of the work,” he said.
He said the government would use available resources to improve the city’s drainage system, but acknowledged that the decades-old problem could not be resolved overnight.
Compensation will be paid to affected families as per rules after a damage assessment, he added.
