Udhampur 17 September :- Senior leader Pawan Khajuria, while addressing a press conference at the Sailan Talab office in Udhampur, said that the heavy rainfall and landslides that began on August 26 have still not stopped. Every day, images of destruction are emerging from different areas. No one has remained unaffected by this disaster. Almost every panchayat has suffered damage—water pipelines are in terrible condition, electricity poles have been uprooted, and several transformers have sunk into the ground. Roads have also been washed away at many places.
The district administration is doing everything it can to deal with this severe disaster and to reach the affected people. Whether it’s a junior employee or a senior officer, everyone is trying to give their 100%. In Udhampur district, about 70 to 80 percent of the population lives in villages, many of which are in remote areas. Yet, the district administration has issued necessary guidelines to reach those areas as well.
In addition, several NGOs have also extended help by distributing relief materials in the villages. We, too, along with our colleagues, have visited remote areas to meet the affected families, understand their pain, and even in areas where roads were blocked due to landslides and vehicles couldn’t go, we reached on foot and provided some relief materials.
While everyone is trying to help in their own way during this time, our MLA is busy playing politics even amidst this disaster. He is telling people that they don’t need to go to the patwari, police station, or any government office—that compensation will be delivered to their homes while they sit at home. I don’t understand why he fails to realize that this is a time for service, not politics. Today, we need to rise above politics and work for the service of the people.
I would like to ask—is it really possible for the administration to deliver relief materials and government aid to every home? At this rate, it would take months.
He further said that, according to the data received through our workers, around 1,500 houses (both kuchha and pucca) have been completely destroyed, leaving thousands homeless. About 10,000 more houses have been partially damaged, but they too should be included in the list of fully damaged houses, because once a house develops cracks, it becomes uninhabitable and creates a constant sense of fear. People are forced to live in tents. Hundreds of cows, buffaloes, and other animals have also been rendered homeless, making it difficult for their owners to care for them. Additionally, thousands of kanals of local residents’ land have become almost barren due to landslides, and crops on that land have been completely destroyed.
He also mentioned that due to road closures and suspension of transport to tourist spots, many transporters and business owners are finding it hard to run their households. We request the administration to also provide them with some form of relief so that they can continue their livelihoods smoothly.
Present on the occasion were senior leader Sardar Palwinder Singh, Naib Sarpanch Vijay Kumar, Mohammad Anwar, Mohinder Kumar, Nateshwar Vaid, Rinku, Shyam Lal, Rohit Sarmal, and Arun Sethi.
