By Mumtaz Alam, IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, 02 Nov 2014: The Supreme Court of India has been urged to take Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand under the cover of its shelter homes directive. J&K this past September and Uttarakhand last year were devastated by floods leaving hundreds of people dead and tens of thousands of others homeless. The apex court on Friday had asked five states to build shelter homes for homeless people ahead of the upcoming winter season.
The Supreme Court has directed the governments of five northern states (UP, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh) to build sufficient number of shelter homes for homeless people ahead of the upcoming winter season. Sending a stern warning to the state governments, a bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu said the states will have to face consequences if they fail to put shelter homes before the onset of winter.
“We will be very harsh to you if the shelter homes are not ready,” the bench said.
While saluting the Supreme Court for its compassion and benevolence for the homeless, Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood, former bureaucrat who runs a charity organization Zakat Foundation of India, on Saturday urged the apex court include the states of J&K and Uttarakhand in the list of five states to whom directions have been issued to establish winter shelters for the needy.
“We would respectfully urge the Hon’ble Supreme Court to kindly include the states of J&K and Uttarakhand in the list of five states…Direct the central and J&K Governments to ensure not only shelter but also warm beddings, warm clothes (pharons) and other basic necessities of life to the tens of thousands of people of Kashmir who got deprived of these amenities due to recent floods.”
Dr. Mahmood urged the apex court to “direct the authorities that the hundreds of government houses that remain vacant in the valley during the winters when the state government Darbar shifts to Jammu should be allotted to those people of the valley who otherwise cannot be readily provided with warm shelters.”
Dr. Mahmood’s Zakat Foundation was among the first NGOs to reach Srinagar with humanitarian assistance from outside the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It sent several boats to the state capital where its volunteers rescued hundreds of people in the submerged areas.
He also appealed to the court to direct the Election Commission to postpone the J&K state elections till April 2015 and cited the case of Delhi where elections are being postponed for several months in row, though not because of any natural disaster.
