Poonch on “Ram Bharose”: After witnessing tragedies multiple times, it’s time for DC Poonch Ashok Sharma to prepare a complete disaster management plan for the future, “Tanki Bathroom” Poonch leadership fails completely

Poonch on “Ram Bharose”: After witnessing tragedies multiple times, it’s time for DC Poonch Ashok Sharma to prepare a complete disaster management plan for the future, “Tanki Bathroom” Poonch leadership fails completely

SALIL RAINA

(POONCH TODAY NEWS)

POONCH: During the last two decades, the border district of Poonch witnessed the worst tragedies in the shape of the October 2005 earthquake, September 2014 floods, Operation Sindoor in May 2025, and now the latest trailer of floods in Poonch and Rajouri districts, which played havoc. As a result, 22 innocent people lost their lives in the Poonch district.

Two families in the Loran and Murrah areas of the Poonch district faced their worst nightmare as maximum members of the families died and some were missing. Near the S.K. Bridge, a car service centre was washed away, which was built near the riverbed by capturing an area of the river. The district witnessed a total blackout due to no power supply; as a result, the water supply remained badly affected. Many people wrote on the social media accounts that they were experiencing stone-age days. It’s most unfortunate that even after witnessing regular tragedies, the successive district administrations failed to make a disaster management plan for the people. Last year during Operation Sindoor, when the Poonch city witnessed its worst tragedy of the last seven decades, there was no administration on the ground as people were seen running barefoot out of the district to save their lives. There was no coordination between the army, police, and the civil administration; as a result, the people of Poonch witnessed their worst time. Now the recent flood has exposed that the JKPDC and Jal Shakti department never made alternate arrangements for such tough situations. Why was no effort made to plan another power line for Poonch City? Why did the officers of Jal Shakti never press for an alternate generator set to ensure a smooth water supply to the people during the hours of crisis? Crores of rupees have been swindled in JKPDC and Jal Shakti departments over the years under different schemes for which a high-level inquiry is needed, but the concerned departments failed to plan alternate arrangements for Poonch. Imagine what would happen if the Poonch district witnessed a war-like situation or terrorist attack or any kind of natural disaster. Who will support the people of Poonch, considering past experiences? Where would the people of Poonch go in case of any eventuality, as the road from Kalai to Manjakote is in extremely bad condition? The yatris coming to Poonch during the coming Shri Budha Amarnath yatra are bound to face huge inconvenience due to the poor condition of the road from Manjakote to Kalai. Unfortunately, the Poonch leadership also failed to plan something big for Poonch over the years. The visionless “Tanki Bathroom” Poonch leadership belonging to all the political parties like NC, PDP, Congress, BJP, and others only befool the people for vote bank politics, as all of them failed brazenly in coming up to the expectations of the people of the Poonch District. They never worked for any big developmental plan over the years, as the main motto of most of them remained to earn commissions only and to dodge the innocent people with hollow speeches. It’s most unfortunate that even in this 21st century, Poonch people were forced to remain without power and water supply for six days, and the credit for this goes to the failed planning of the successive Poonch administrations and visionless “tanki bathroom” Poonch leadership over the years. Although the JKPDC officials worked in difficult circumstances to restore the power supply, which is praiseworthy, the question arises why the department never made an alternate plan for Poonch, as the border district is highly sensitive from an internal and external security point of view. As the 132 kV power supply has been restored through erecting a temporary ERS tower, the question arises: when will the department build a new tower for ensuring a smooth power supply to the district? The most unfortunate part is that the Jal Shakti department was given mostly inefficient executive engineers, and it’s the people of Poonch who suffered a lot due to the inefficiencies of the Jal Shakti department officials. Mostly they have only one excuse: “Power off hai” or “Motor kharab hai.” The government must initiate a high-level inquiry into the funds under different schemes given to the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Jal Shakti, and JKPDC Poonch for the last ten years to know how much money has been swallowed by tainted officials through passing fake bills. The repeated natural and man-made disasters have shown that the people of Poonch are only on Ram Bharose, as it has been proved again that the successive district administrations never made a complete disaster management plan. However, despite the significant efforts of DC Poonch Ashok Sharma and his team by visiting various far-flung areas to address the concerns of the affected families, he could not do more because some of his predecessors were responsible for the damages that Poonch has been facing due to poor developmental planning related to flood zones across the district. Meanwhile, it’s high time for the deputy commissioner, Ashok Sharma, unlike some of his poor predecessors, to make a complete disaster plan for the future covering all the important areas of health, fire, water, warlike situations, power, road connectivity, and others. The district has already suffered on various accounts for years during times of emergency due to the poor planning of successive administrations, but it’s time for the present administration to learn from past mistakes and make a complete disaster management plan for the future because the district is highly sensitive to internal and external security concerns and natural calamities.