Illegal mining led to flood havoc: R S Pathania

Udhampur, Aug 28: MLA Udhampur East Ranbir Singh Pathania on Thursday emphasised that the widespread devastation in J&K was not merely a natural disaster but was aggravated by unregulated and illegal mining.

He also made a fervent call to the central government to announce a special central package on the lines of the 2014 Srinagar floods to help Jammu and Kashmir recover fully.

Pathania was interacting with the people while conducting an extensive tour of flood-affected areas in his constituency, covering Rathian (near DPS), Channi More, Satteni, Sountha, Kashirah, Krowa, Kawa, Jaganoo, and Ritti.

He reviewed damages, interacted with affected families and instructed for urgent relief operations. He raised serious concerns that illegal mining was being carried out alarmingly close to water filtration plants, pumping stations, bridges, roads, and forest belts, destabilising riverbeds, triggering soil erosion, and undermining protective embankments.

“These unscientific activities have amplified the impact of floods, turning a natural calamity into a far more severe crisis. The havoc in Udhampur is several times worse than in other regions of J&K due to ecological disruption caused by mining,” he observed.

During his interactions with locals, Pathania noted that most losses suffered by households, farmers, and small traders did not qualify for compensation under SDRF norms and described the kitty announced by the J&K government as “a mere drop in the ocean”.

He urged the Modi government at the Centre to announce a special package on the lines of the 2014 Srinagar floods, ensuring comprehensive relief, restoration of critical infrastructure, revival of economic activity, and implementation of long-term flood-prevention measures to bring normalcy back and make Jammu and Kashmir more resilient.

He directed officials to provide shelters, rations, drinking water, medicines, and temporary connectivity while ensuring daily monitoring of relief distribution.

Pathania stressed the urgent need to strengthen roads, bridges, schools, health centres, irrigation channels, and public utilities and emphasised that flood management and disaster preparedness should be an integral part of the annual budget, with funds allocated for embankments, desilting, protective walls, and resilient infrastructure.

“This calamity offers hard lessons that must be learnt and applied immediately to prevent future disasters,” the BJP MLA said, urging authorities to adopt a proactive, long-term approach rather than only reactive relief measures.

Pathania assured the people that the central government was standing shoulder to shoulder with every affected family and emphasised that recovery must be coupled with protection, prevention, and long-term resilience measures.