Accountability must be fixed - Govt's monsoon failure leaves Jammu flooded, people abandoned: Raman Suri

JAMMU: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Raman Suri today blamed the National Conference (NC) government's failure to prepare for the monsoon for the widespread flooding and waterlogging witnessed across Jammu city after overnight rains. He said the suffering of thousands of families is not merely due to heavy rainfall but because the concerned departments failed to carry out timely pre-monsoon works.

Every year tall claims are made about desilting drains and cleaning nallahs, but the first spell of rain exposes the reality. "Rain is natural, but turning it into a disaster is the failure of the administration," he said. He said engineers and officials of the concerned departments had sufficient time to clean drains, strengthen weak structures and ensure smooth flow of rainwater but failed to perform their duties. As a result, floodwater entered houses and business establishments in several localities, damaging furniture, electrical appliances, important documents and commercial goods.

Raman Suri also expressed concern over the collapse of a boundary wall in the Gangyal industrial area, saying such incidents reflect poor maintenance and official negligence that put public lives and property at risk. He said residents of Talab Tillo, Bohri, Bhagwati Nagar, Lower Muthi, Paloura, Nanak Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Preet Nagar, Model Town, Gangyal and other areas spent a sleepless night trying to save their belongings as floodwater inundated their homes.

Prolonged power cuts further worsened the situation. Raman Suri urged the government to immediately activate the disaster management department and ensure coordinated action by the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), UEED, health department, fire and emergency services, Power Development Department (PDDP and other agencies to deal with the continuing monsoon on war footings and help people save lives and assets. He said that monsoon has just struck here and government still has time to take precautionary measures and it must not delay any. 

Demanding accountability, Raman Suri said the government must order a high-level inquiry into the preparedness of all departments and fix responsibility wherever negligence is found. Officers and engineers who ignored their duties despite adequate time cannot be allowed to escape accountability. He also sought immediate assessment of losses, adequate compensation for affected families and traders, restoration of essential services, deployment of dewatering pumps and emergency response teams, and uninterrupted healthcare and rescue services.

Raman Suri said Jammu cannot be made to suffer the same avoidable crisis every monsoon because of administrative apathy. He called for a permanent flood management plan involving scientific desilting of drains, regular maintenance of stormwater systems, strengthening of vulnerable infrastructure and continuous monitoring of flood-prone areas. Expressing solidarity with the affected families, he sought government intervention in helping them in whatever manner it can.