Restoration work of flood channel Padshahi Bagh starts in Kashmir

SRINAGAR - Restoration work of the historical Padshahi Bagh flood channel has started here, to divert the excess water from the River Jhelum whenever flood situations arise.

The Irrigation and Flood Control Department in Jammu and Kashmir started the restoration work after receiving 520 million rupees sanction for the project.

“We made a project of rupees 1.09 billion and sent it to the Central Government for sanctioning and rupees 520 million were sanctioned. It was conducted in two phases. First phase is almost about to get over whose proposal has already been made and the width is 20 metres. And for the second phase we are surveying and then the proposal will be made,” said Umer Jaan, one of the engineers of the project.

“With the reconstruction of this flood channel our city will be safe from flood because sanitation was deposited on the sides of flood channel so the water used to flow towards river Jhelum, which led to danger of the city being damaged,” he added.

Residents said the reconstruction of the flood channel would benefit them as the floodwater will not enter the city, and the farmers will also be benefited as due to excess rainfall the floodwater entered their fields and damaged the crops.

“During the rainy season, the water level in river (Jhelum) rises. So, the reconstruction work of the flood channel is taking place, so that, when the water level rises in River Jhelum, it will be diverted towards the flood channel” said Imtiyaz Ahmad, one of the residents.

The first ten kilometers of the channel had been blocked due to silt and encroachment on the channel space through which the flood-diverted waters were supposed to flow.

Many plants had also grown in the channel, further obstructing the path of floodwaters. By Afzal Bhat (ANI)