Volunteer groups start clean-up drive in Valley

With the civic authorities crippled by the recent floods, volunteer groups here have started their own clean-up drive in the Kashmir Valley.
Nissar Ahmad Dar and Mehrajuddin Ganiae are leading an initiative to clean the Doodhganga stream of the garbage dumped by floods at three bridges within a span of 600 metres.
"We waited for two weeks for the government agencies to come and clear the silt from the roads and garbage from the Doodhganga but then decided to do it on our own," Dar said as he and his colleagues were bringing up logs stuck under the bridge near Bone and Joint Hospital Barzullah.

Dar said the volunteers from his area had earlier cleared the silt from the interiors of Barzullah and some adjoining areas to make the roads motorable.
"One thing this adversity has taught us is that we cannot wait for the government to do everything for us. There are two reasons for that - first, the concerned official needs approval from his superior for everything and second is funding as it takes time to get it sanctioned. So wherever possible we will do things ourselves," he said.
Dar and his volunteers said they were hoping that the civic authorities will take urgent steps to deal with problem of encroachment and other issues.

"There are encroachments on the banks of Doodhganga and some canals, which acted of outlets for flood water. Those need to be removed. Also, the Doodhganga needs to be dredged while the embankments need to be raised to allow more water holding capacity," he added.
At some places in the city like Rawalpora and Hyderpora , the volunteers set the garbage on fire as Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) could not cope up with the massive amount of waste generated due to floods.