A large stretch of embankment of river Jhelum at Shivpora here crumbled due to rains last night.Shivpora was one of the worst affected areas during devastating floods in September 2014. Authorities had plugged breaches, however due to rains, a vast stretch of embankment has caved in.
The locals mince no words to accuse the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) department of failing to strengthen the damaged embankment.
“The authorities are focusing on dredging and have failed to permanently repair the embankments,” said a group of locals pointing towards cracks developed on embankments near Shivpora’s Purnibal area. Another crack has development on embankment near a temple behind Shangrilla Hotel located at Sonawar.
“The Irrigation and Flood Control department did not undertake the repairs of embankments properly. Due to low water level in Jhelum, winter is considered to be best time to repair embankments. But concerned authorities failed to undertake the work,” said Saqib Wani, a resident of Purnibal, Shivpora.l
Muhammad Rafiq, another resident said, “we are living in fear psychosis.”
“We are yet to restart our lives following the devastating floods. If the authorities fail to repair the embankments, we will be forced to migrate to safer places,” he said.
The locals said the embankments had crumbled for the second time. “Last year, the authorities just placed some sand bags over the damaged embankments and did not take measures to repair it,” they said.
The locals said in case water level increases in Jhelum, the water will enter locality from these cracks. “Authorities will be responsible in case of any eventuality due to crumbling embankments,” they said.
Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control, Javid Jaffar said “there is no need to panic.” “I will send a team to look into the matter,” Jaffar added.
