Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah was criticised for neglecting environment during his tenure as after he shared a picture of soil erosion somewhere in the country during the recent heavy rainfall.
The National Conference vice-president pointed at government apathy and wilful ignorance as the reasons for allowing huge structures on unstable land on hillsides.
“Years of govt apathy and wilful ignorance while multi-storey concrete structures were built on unstable hillsides has lethal consequences. Who thought these buildings were a good idea? All hill states need to be mindful of the growing impact of climate change & enforce building codes accordingly,” Omar said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. He also shared a 40 second video of a four-storey structure collapsing due to soil erosion on the hillside.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Years of Govt apathy and wilful ignorance while multi-storey concrete structures were built on unstable hillsides has lethal consequences. Who thought these buildings were a good idea? All hill states need to be mindful of the growing impact of climate change & enforce building… <a href=”https://t.co/ITCXyfxjan”>pic.twitter.com/ITCXyfxjan</a></p>— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) <a href=”https://twitter.com/OmarAbdullah/status/1691695962190966822?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>August 16, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://kashmirpost.org/wp-content/litespeed/localres/aHR0cHM6Ly9wbGF0Zm9ybS50d2l0dGVyLmNvbS93aWRnZXRzLmpz” charset=”utf-8″></script>
However, netizens reminded him of his own “rule” when environment norms were set aside for allowing construction in different parts of the erstwhile state.
“Would have a lot of respect for your conversation here, but the National Conference’s record on the environment is terrible. Your party destroyed acres and acres of forest land for a golf course that serves the rich and privileged in the heart of Srinagar,” wrote Nasrun, in response to Omar’s tweet.
Another netizen said same will happen in J&K. “This is going to be the fate of Kud, Ramsu, Patnitop and other places like that,” posted ND Wani.
Another person asked Omar to ponder over the issue. “True, you too need to be cautious while dealing with NHPC and other companies in Chenab region. Indirectly, you all prioritise random infra development over sustainable development. Hope you will learn something,” wrote Wamiq Mujtaba.
Dharamvir Singh Dahiya, another netizen, asked former CM of his contribution in safeguarding environment. “Please state how many rules & laws you have made in J&K when you were the CM? What about Roshni Act? What about occupying forest land in Jammu…?.”
