Flood experts say Kashmir has failed to address key vulnerabilities as extreme weather returns

Experts say dredging, wetland restoration and flood channel improvements promised after the 2014 deluge remain incomplete as extreme weather becomes more frequent.

Heavy rain that flooded parts of central Kashmir this week has reignited questions about whether the Valley is better prepared for another major flood, nearly 12 years after the devastating deluge of 2014 exposed weaknesses in its flood management system.

In Budgam’s Beerwah and Khag areas, overflowing streams damaged shops, roads and villages after torrential rain, while a cloudburst in Rajouri district later claimed lives and caused widespread destruction.

The flooding followed weather warnings issued by the Meteorological Department and flood alerts from multiple government agencies, prompting renewed concern over Kashmir’s vulnerability to extreme weather.

Experts interviewed by Free Press Kashmir said some flood mitigation measures have been completed since 2014, but many of the structural interventions considered essential remain unfinished, poorly maintained or delayed by bureaucracy.

Ajaz Rasool, a hydraulic engineering expert who worked on dredging projects in Kashmir before the 2014 floods, said restoration efforts addressed damaged embankments and protection walls, but many longer-term measures were left incomplete.

He warned that the Valley had “lost nearly 30 per cent of Wular Lake’s capacity over the last 30 years”, reducing one of Kashmir’s most important natural flood buffers.

Rasool said authorities dredged a 27-kilometre stretch of the Jhelum River between Pampore and Chattabal but overlooked what he considers the river’s most critical section.

“If the government had prioritised dredging the Sopore-Baramulla stretch instead, it would have been a game changer,” he said.

“Annual dredging of this stretch is essential” because regular silt deposition reduces the river’s ability to carry floodwaters safely toward Wular Lake.

He noted that similar recommendations were made after the devastating 1903 floods, when engineers concluded that improving the river’s outflow between Wular Lake and Baramulla was key to reducing flood risk.

More than a century later, he said, the underlying science remains unchanged.

Environmentalist Nadeem Qadri said the Flood Spill Channel, one of Kashmir’s primary flood-control structures, has steadily lost effectiveness because of encroachments, silt accumulation and inadequate maintenance.

“The government has done very little to restore the spill channel after the 2014 floods,” Qadri said, adding that areas intended to carry floodwaters have instead been encroached upon or converted into grazing grounds and playgrounds.

He warned that unless the channel is scientifically restored, its ability to protect the Valley will continue to decline.

Geologist Dr Riyaz Ahmad Mir of the National Institute of Hydrology said climate change has compounded those challenges.

“Besides climate change, the shrinking of wetlands, which act as natural sponges during floods, encroachment of floodplains, rapid urbanisation and the reduced carrying capacity of rivers due to siltation have collectively made even moderate rainfall events more damaging than before,” Mir said.

He added that “dredging alone cannot solve Kashmir’s flood problem” and called for an integrated river basin approach that includes restoring wetlands, protecting floodplains, improving urban drainage, regulating construction in flood-prone areas and adopting climate-resilient land-use planning.

Free Press Kashmir sought details from the Irrigation and Flood Control Department on post-2014 mitigation measures.

Chief Engineer Showkat Hussain referred the queries to the department’s Technical Officer, who confirmed that dredging had been carried out after the 2014 floods but did not provide data on the extent of the work or the status of other mitigation projects despite repeated follow-up requests.