Jammu, Sept 14 – Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Gulam Ali Khatana on Sunday toured the flood-hit Khairi-Kangar belt in Jammu, meeting displaced families and inspecting stretches devastated by landslides, soil erosion and flooding. Locals apprised the MP that soil erosion in the area was worsened by tunnelling and earth works linked to the national highway ring road, which had been left exposed without safeguards. They said heavy downpours in such conditions inevitably triggered landslides and erosion, resulting in large-scale damage.
Khatana expressed concern over the destruction and assured people that relief and rehabilitation measures were being carried out under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha personally monitoring the situation. He said road clearance, restoration of essential services and delivery of aid were progressing swiftly and that normalcy was gradually being restored.
The BJP MP also launched a scathing attack on the Omar Abdullah-led government, accusing it of apathy and mismanagement. He said the state government had failed to respond with urgency and had shown indifference to the plight of affected families. “Decisions on disaster declaration and compensation are being delayed, and this neglect is compounding people’s suffering,” he remarked.
Khatana instructed the local administration to perform its duty effectively, stressing that no scope for negligence should be left in disaster preparedness and relief so that such tragedies are not repeated in the future. He further highlighted that the poor drainage system in Khairi-Kangan had long been a source of recurring floods and waterlogging, adding that the problem “cries for a permanent solution” as even routine rainfall disrupts life in the region.
Concluding his visit, the BJP MP said the issue was not about politics but about people’s lives, and pledged to keep pressing until accountability was fixed and affected families received full relief and rehabilitation.