“Agar firdous baroye zameen ast, hami asto, hami asto hami ast” – Amir-e-Khusru Dehluvi
The paradise was lost in silt. The houses-streets-green was covered in mud. Dust in the air, broken barriers and bridges were the plight of the state.
The flood news spread like fire, Media, gave all its attention and environmentalist, speculation was screaming on the screen. Film fraternities took charge and raised funds. One thing was clear that it was huge impairment to the state. 15.27 lakh families affected in 5794 villages, claimed 282 lives, 90,000 livestock and crops on 6.48 lakh hectares was vanished. The cabinet assured Rs. 44,000/- crores.
Uttrakhand flood smashed the state, it was in news, and soon faded away. The displacement and loss in Bihar and Orissa flood was irrevocable. So, what made J&K flood so different? The answer is J&K was politicize, the insecurity of the nation that the Awaam (People) will ask for Azadi (Separation). The world’s super power was closely watching the reaction of India’s neighbor. Army claimed that they have rescued 184,000 people, soon the facts were out and the number was flaunted to make army as heroes.
Kashmir flood was not just natural but man-made as well. According to Zubair A Dar, a US doctoral scholar on water policy and management in the Indus basin shared that the larger reason for frequent floods, is the unresolved Kashmir dispute, which has brought out deficiencies in the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), which prohibits J&K from building dams with water storage upstream. The construction of building larger dams and storage is not helping Pakistan from floods upstream. But the main reason for the logjam over the IWT is that Pakistan fears India will up the ante during a conflict through “strategic wartime usage” of dams and storage, which can cripple it because it depends on the Jhelum, Chenab, and Indus for nearly 77% of its water requirement.
At one hand people were criticizing about the inefficiency of the Government to reach out to them on the other hand many aggressively reacted towards the distribution and didn’t accept it. Kashmir is an economically stable when it’s compared with states like Orissa and North-east which face floods every year. Any disaster does affect the state but, the way J&K received response across raised question. It is national chauvinism and the politicking over Jammu and Kashmir that is an overriding factor.
