WE THE PEOPLE
Essential services like power, water and telecommunications fail whenever weather turns hostile in Kashmir
Hence people demand modernization of systems to ensure uninterrupted supplies to them
By: Ahlam Masoodi
Srinagar: The vocabulary of essential services seems to have lost its meaning and significance in the departmental dictionary of Power Development, Public Health Engineering and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd as their services fail whenever the Valley of Kashmir is lashed even by minor intensity precipitation. The situation takes more ugly turn whenever there is snowfall, which usually throws life out of gear and brings people face to face with unbearable hardships. This proves that functional mechanism of the said departments has not improved and bears no comparison to other states of India.
The winter is one of the four seasons and thus not a new thing in Kashmir but it is observed that the above cited Departments have to go a long way to tackle weather vagaries and till then common masses in Kashmir Valley shall have to face hardships. This became evident on Thursday, February 05, 2009 when some districts of Kashmir Valley experienced a minor snowfall, but immediately thereafter power, water and telecommunication services got snapped. Such a scenario is not witnessed even in the most backward countries of the world. Snapping power and water supplies to residential belts placed people in a quandary. With lanes and by-lanes covered by a thin sheet snow and not cleared by the workers of Srinagar Municipal Corporation paralyzed movement of automobiles completely.
“We have instances of several countries in the West, which are frequently hit by blizzards and tornadoes but normal life continues without any hiccups. This is due to the adoption of the latest technologies but here in J&K we have age-old methods to tackle natural calamities. Even in exploiting natural resources, we are far behind. Pertinent to mention that our technocrats have failed to harness available natural resources, denying thereby electricity to unlit hearths and water to parched fields. Had the available water potential been utilized, all our habitations in the State would have been not only electrified but also given a boost to our industrial and agricultural bases in the State,” said a group of knowledgeable persons of Kashmir valley.
Despite Central funds, the Power Development Department has failed to improve its transmission and distribution system in valley so far. The electric cables in several areas have reportedly been replaced by barbed wire, which yields and buckles, thereby plunging such areas into long shadows of darkness. The distribution system is equally hackneyed and the losses are as high as 40 to 45%. This is a very high range as has been pointed out by several experts repeatedly. It was for this season that the government of India approved a scheme for improvement of Transmission and Distribution System and placed requisite sums of many at the disposal of the J&K Government but there is no perceptible improvement in this direction so far. We continue to have worn-out conductors in major segments of the valley, which get snapped frequently. The Sub-stations are in shambles and accidental deaths are reported frequently. It would be desirable to have conductors underground so that these do not get disrupted during winter months when the valley experiences icy winds and snow storms. Similarly, the Tele-cables should have been placed in well-designed boxes, with manholes at intervals for inspection purposes. This stands done in most of the cosmopolitan cities of India.
Hence people demand modernization of systems to ensure uninterrupted supplies to them. It is high time that Heads of PDD, PHE and BSNL take stock of their departments and adopt necessary measures to improve their functional mechanism. Once the systems improve and sense of duty and devotion develops among the State functionaries, the day shall not be far-off when fault-free services shall become available to the Vallietes.
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