Jammu, Oct 13: Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Rajni Sethi has expressed serious concern over the heavy rainfall witnessed in Jammu on October 11, which exposed major gaps in urban infrastructure, drainage management and the overall preparedness of concerned government departments.
She stated that the tragic loss of two precious lives and the immense hardships faced by residents called for a thorough review of the arrangements made to protect human lives and public property during heavy rainfall.
With regard to the situation evolved during intense rains, Rajni Sethi stated that the incident raised fundamental questions about the effectiveness and execution of projects undertaken under the smart city initiative. Despite claims of urban transformation and significant investments, brief spells of rainfall resulted in widespread waterlogging, damaging property and crippling normal life across various parts of the city.
Sethi firmly asserted that government departments must immediately stop making habitual excuses such as “unprecedented heavy rainfall” or “unusually excessive downpours” to cover up their administrative failures and lack of foresight.
Referring to last year’s severe flood situation in Jammu, which caused widespread destruction across residential and commercial areas, the J&K BJP spokesperson questioned what lessons the government and concerned departments actually learned from that disaster. She asked what concrete steps, preventive measures or structural safeguards were planned and executed to ensure that citizens would not face similar devastation again.
Taking direct aim at the current administration, Rajni Sethi questioned the National Conference (NC) government regarding its performance over the last two years. She demanded to know what specific policy decisions, drainage desilting drives or infrastructural upgrades the NC government implemented during its two-year tenure to protect human lives and prevent public and private property losses during peak rainfall.
J&K BJP spokesperson emphasised that public safety could not be compromised due to administrative inertia and lack of inter-departmental coordination. The party demanded complete departmental accountability, total transparency regarding funds allocated and spent under Smart City drainage projects, and an immediate, time-bound action plan to ensure that such catastrophic urban flooding does not recur in Jammu.
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