SC sceptical of J&K relief efforts

Says affidavit submitted by Omar government ‘too sketchy’

Children dry their books outside their house which collapsed in the floods atMagam, 30 km from Srinagar, on Thursday. Photo: Nissar Ahmad

Even as the Centre said the Omar Abdullah government was up to the task of providing relief to the flood-affected people of Kashmir, the Supreme Court asked on Thursday whether it was doing enough considering the acute water shortage and lack of access to food at a time when the cold was fast setting in.

A three-judge Bench, headed by Chief Justice R.M. Lodha, said an affidavit filed by the State government on the relief work was “too sketchy” and did not give a clear picture of the requirement on the ground.

“You say you airdropped 200 metric tonnes of drinking water in the past 10 days. Do you really know what the requirement is? Maybe, the actual requirement is 1,000 metric tonnes. You may need help,” Chief Justice Lodha told State counsel.

The hearing comes days after the Centre, through Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, submitted that the Chief Minister was in control of the situation.

The Bench is hearing a batch of public interest litigation petitions filed by the J&K National Panthers Party and Vasundhara Pathak Masoodi, activist.

The court said it was not blaming the executive, but was only doing its duty under Article 21 of the Constitution.