Srinagar, Sept 07: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) senior leader Zaffer Mir (Lasjan) on Sunday expressed deep concern over what he described as the government’s decades-long neglect of Rakh Shalina and Shalina, including adjoining hamlets like Zoonipora, Pahroo and Kenihama in Budgam district. He said residents, despite repeatedly parting with land for public projects, continue to bear the brunt of official apathy.
Zaffer, in a statement issued here, said that the locality was first divided by the railway track and later by the bypass road, yet the government failed to provide even basic amenities for the affected communities.
Highlighting the area’s chronic vulnerability, he said, “For close to three decades, the demand for a dewatering station has gone unheeded, even though this belt lies low and is perennially prone to flooding. Season after season, the appeals of local residents have fallen on deaf ears, leaving their fields, homes, and livelihoods devastated.”
He added that since 2016, he has repeatedly flagged the menace of waterlogging, which submerges over 4,000 kanals of fertile farmland each summer, while more than 7,000 kanals of rice crops have been destroyed due to floods affecting Kenihama, Pahroo and surrounding areas.
“The irrigation canals leading to the Padshahibagh flood channel remain blocked, rendering farmland useless and devastating livelihoods,” Zaffer said, adding that these areas currently bear the burden of diverted floodwaters intended to protect Srinagar city.
“Why must these sacrifices be ignored as if they mean nothing? The people of Rakh Shalina, Shalina, Pahroo, Kenihama, and Zoonipora have given enough and endured enough. They deserve dignity and protection, not continued neglect,” he asserted.
Appealing for urgent intervention, the PDP leader demanded the immediate establishment of a dewatering station and the restoration of blocked irrigation channels.
“The persistent suffering and neglect faced by these communities cannot continue. Their patience has been tested, their sacrifices immense, and it is high time the administration acts. Relief is not a favour; it is their rightful due,” he said.
