Srinagar, September 5, 2025 : Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday urged Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to raise with the Centre the issue of flood management packages previously sanctioned for the Union Territory but remaining unutilised. She also called for immediate dredging and other preventive works in the River Jhelum to protect lives and property.
Mufti visited flood-affected areas in Bijbehara, Anantnag district, to assess the situation firsthand and express solidarity with the affected families.
“I appeal to Omar Abdullah to take up with the Centre the issue of Rs 1,630 crore sanctioned under the Prime Minister’s package for the River Jhelum, which has not been utilised,” she told reporters.
She further highlighted that Jammu and Kashmir had also secured a Rs 1,500 crore loan from the World Bank for post-2014 flood reconstruction and recovery, but much of the work remains incomplete.
“Dredging of Jhelum and Tawi rivers was planned to safeguard people from future floods. The CM should raise this issue so that, in the future, such disasters can be mitigated,” she said, warning that repeated inaction could lead to far worse damage in subsequent floods.
Mufti urged immediate action, including the construction of protective bunds, desilting, and dredging of rivers and water bodies, to ensure that lives, property, and crops are better protected in future flood events.
