Kashmir Impulse Desk

Srinagar, July 23

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday called for a long-term strategy to protect infrastructure and lives from increasingly frequent extreme weather events, saying cloudbursts and intense rainfall had become a recurring threat.

CM Omar said the immediate flood situation had eased, but damage had been reported in several areas, including Beerwah in Budgam, where he said about 37 shops had been washed away.

He said compensation procedures had been initiated for affected traders.

“We cannot stop the rain and these cloudburst incidents,” the CM told reporters.

He said such events, once largely confined to remote mountainous areas, were now being reported with increasing frequency.

CM Omar said the government needed to move beyond emergency relief and develop a comprehensive disaster mitigation programme focused on climate-resilient infrastructure, improved flood management and scientific planning.

He also called for dialogue with young people protesting in Delhi over an alleged paper leak, saying their concerns should not be ignored.

“There is clearly resentment among the youth that has been ignored so far,” the CM said, urging the government to engage directly with protesters.

On allegations of recruitment examination paper leaks in J&K, he said the incidents had occurred when the union territory did not have an elected government and that investigations had been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.