FLOODS

The general lay-out of the valley, coupled with other factors, like encourchment on the water courses,construction of bunds along river banks etc. make the valley flood-prone.Vivid accounts of these appear in all the histories  written upto date. The recorded floods during the second half of the present century are those of 1959,1965, 1966,1969,1973,1975, 1976,1985,1986, 1987,1988,1992, 1993, 1995,1996 and 1997. In the devastating floods in 1959, the Wullar Lake attained  the water level of 1580.693 metres above mean sea level (M.S.L) which was the highest recorded till then.The highest flood discharge so far since 1965 has been recorded during the flood of September 1992 as 65305 cusecs.

Highly effective flood control measures are reported to have been undertaken from the earliest times.During Awantiverman’s reign Suyya, the Kashmiri Engineer cleared the blockade at Khandanyar and, simultaneously, changed the course of the river from Shadipora to Banyari. In the time of Maharaja Pratab Singh, Major de-lotbinere built a series of flood spile-channels from above Srinagar up to the Wullar  and introduced mechanized dredging in the out-fall channel below Sopore.

Much has been done, since independence, to project the people  from the menacing problem of floods. Besides granting  relief, in case and in kind, to the people of the affected areas, the government ,in recent past, undertook the work of deepening and widening of the out-fall channels and raising and strengthening of embankments. Dredging operations of river Jehlum below Ningli up to Khandyar undertaken in 1960 have helped, to a great extent , increase, otherwise low discharge capacity of the outfall channel

The building of locks, weirs, canals and diversions continue to change the configuration of the country side. A network of Zamindar kuhls and canals, both gravity and lift, on the Jehlum basin irrigate huge tracts of land. A unique experiment of dewatering-cum-irrigation, by way of recycling of water, starting in Sonawari area, has given a great boost to the economy of the area. A large area, which otherwise remained water logged, was brought under cultivation by this method. In water scarcity  areas of north Kashmir, about 120 small/medium tanks have been constructed to store snowmelt and rain water , which is utilized by the Zamindars in irrigating their paddy lands.However, a lot has still to be done in the coming years.Vast stretches of plateau, table-lands await irrigation schemes, being put through.Drainage, a serious problem in the vast stretches of swamps and marshy lands, awaits a proper tackling.