Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said he will write to the Centre that the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) assessing flood damage in Jammu should also carry out a similar exercise in Kashmir.
The constitution of IMCT was announced by Home Minister Amit Shah ahead of his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir from September in view of death and destruction caused by cloudbursts, landslides due to heavy monsoon rains.
Hon’ble Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, along with Dy. Chief Minister Surinder Chaudhary, Hon’ble Advisor Nasir Sogami, Hon’ble MLA Lal Chowk Ahsan Pardesi, Hon’ble MLA Chadura Ali Mohd Dar, Hon’ble MLA Chanpora Mushtaq Guroo, and senior government officials, today visited several… pic.twitter.com/1BRwIJTA57
— JKNC (@JKNC_) September 4, 2025
A seven-member IMCT arrived in Jammu on Wednesday evening. The team will visit all 10 districts of Jammu before returning to Delhi on September 7.
According to reports, the team is led by Col KP Singh, Advisor (Operations and Communication), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), MHA. Other members comprise senior officers from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Power, Rural Development, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Jal Shakti and FCD.
The team will submit a report to the Centre government after which a relief package will be announced by the Centre for the families of those who lost their kin or suffered damage to their property, business and crops.
Abdullah wants the IMCT to tour flood-ravaged areas in Kashmir to make an assessment of the damage so that they too can benefit from the package that Centre will announce for the victims of nature’s fury.
Speaking to reporters after visiting the flood-affected areas, Abdullah said his government will work to increase the water carrying capacity of Jhelum and the flood channels through dredging so that residential areas getting flooded due to an overflowing Jhelum is prevented in future.
He admitted that valuable time had been lost since the devastating floods of 2014.
“Unfortunately, it seems that 11 years have been wasted. Next week, I will review what has happened in this period. I will make sure that such situations do not happen again in the future,” he said, adding that they will take tough measures and preparations will start soon.
Reflecting on the situation between 2014 and 2025, he said that Srinagar city had been saved this time. “There is water in areas like Lasjan, but the city of Srinagar has been spared,” the CM said. Still, if you look at Kulgam district, there has been a lot of damage, particularly financial loss.”
Abdullah said if the dredging of the Jhelum and flood channels had been done, the current situation would not have arisen. He blamed previous governments for negligence.
“Somewhere in these 11 years, our rulers have been careless. People should not be forced to leave their homes or hide their cars under flyovers after just two days of rain,” the chief minister added.
He said that rain was an act of God, but the losses could have been mitigated through proper planning. “I assure the people that we will not let such situations occur again,” he said.
