The Central Water Commission (CWC), responsible for forecasting floods and issuing advisory to States, has no flood forecasts for Jammu and Kashmir, according to Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams Rivers and People (SANDRP).
The CWC’s forecast list of September 6 had 18 level forecasts and 8 inflow forecasts, but none from Jammu and Kashmir. Nor were there any hydrographs for rivers in the State.
“This seems like a shocking omission by the CWC which functions under the Union Ministry of Water Resources and reminds one that the CWC completely failed to provide any forecast when Uttarakhand faced its worst floods in June 2013,” SANDRP said in a statement.
ADVERTISEMENT
It hoped the CWC would include the flood-vulnerable sites of Jammu and Kashmir in its forecasts, and explain why they were not included so far.
Mr. Thakkar said there were reports that the flood gates of the Dulhasti Hydropower project on the Chenab river were opened, increasing the flood level in the downstream areas.
SANDRP said the release of water by the dam was expected to increase the levels of the Chenab between Kishtwar and Ramban. Such additional floods could have been avoided had the gates been kept open in anticipation of floods.
ADVERTISEMENT