Deluge, destruction in Jammu and Kashmir

Srinagar, Sep 14: These are unprecedented times. Generations of people of Jammu and Kashmir had not seen the kind of devastation that the floods of September second week have wrought on the Himalayan state.

The deluge has left a trail of destruction in almost every district of this already vexed state. The flood havoc has left the Jammu region and the Kashmir Valley equally ruined. A week of thunderous rainfall has breached canals and lakes and flooded the rivers, pushing the state, not known for its administrative efficiency, backward by a couple of decades. There is hardly any family which has not been affected by this completely unpredicted misery.

Days of rainfall and flooding have impacted every walk of life. After the thunder storm that started on September 6, only now Srinagar has started getting electricity supply, that too only in parts of the state capital. There is hardly any telephone connectivity. With mobile networks non-functional and power intermittent, the problem of contacting the near and dear ones is a tall order. There are tales of parents not knowing the whereabouts of the family members, mothers having lost children and brothers unaware what happened to the uncontactable cousins.

Take anything in J&K, they are under water. Shops and establishments, hospitals, banks, government and private offices, telephone exchanges, police stations, schools and colleges, power plants, petrol pumps and newspaper offices are under water and will remain closed for days to come. Of the seven hospitals in the city, only one – Sher-e-Kashmir - is functional. Godowns are under water. Petrol pumps are empty.

The HP and IOC oil storage tanks located in Pulwama district along the closed Srinagar-Jammu highway are submerged. Most of the buildings and houses are under at least 10 ft of water. There is a level-playing field here though. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s office, secretariat, Assembly building, areas like the posh Jawahar Nagar - where leading politicians and top bureaucrats live - have been under water. So much so that the chiefminister could not contact his own ministers or officials for days on end.

There are no stocks in ration shops. Left over stocks are looted by thieves who came in boats. There is an acute shortage of food across the affected districts. Medicine is urgently needed as receding flood waters may bring in diseases. The biggest problem is acute shortage of medicine and drinking water. Some temporary hospitals are set up as voluntary doctors are working but are devoid of medical facilities. Without water, there is the danger of people getting dehydrated. In the only paediatric hospital of Srinagar, 14 newborns died. There are reports that some bodies are lying on trees.

Relief camps have been set up but the condition there is sub-human. While seven of the 10 north Kashmir districts were affected, rain has started pounding south Kashmir since Friday. People’s anger is against both the state and the Central governments.

Affected residents say while the state government completely failed to come to the rescue of the flood-hit, the Centre could have done more. Instead of pressing just 100 boats in to service, what was needed was 1000 boats as lakhs were waiting to be rescued over six days without proper food or water. In Sringar alone, of the 6 lakh trapped in waters, only 1 lakh have been rescued.

Said Riaz Ahmed, a businessman: “This is the time when the rest of the country can really show that Kashmir is part of India, that they are ready to embrace us in this hour of tragedy. Help is coming, but it is insufficient, not streamlined.”

Cries of woe

Many have lost their lives and also savings and property. Says Mohd Mazan Bhat, a retired government official: “I constructed a house in Bemina out of my life savings. The house has been washed away in the floods. I lost everything in a matter of a few hours.” Bhat, now in a relief camp, weeps: “I don’t know how to restart my life.”

Four days after he was rescued from his house which is under 15 ft of water in Karan Nagar, advocate Jawed is not able to live down the horror he went through. “I was saved by an army boat after three days and two nights. I am still terrified, I am not able to sleep. I get hallucinations of the violent waves lashing my house engulfing it and the neighbourhood.”

Senior journalist Arshad Hussian of Kashmir Times and his mother are not traceable. He has three small children and all are rescued from his house at Shivpura on the banks of the Jhelum river. His wife, a doctor, was at her hospital when the tragedy struck and is safe. I have been trying to locate them at relief camps but am not successful.

There are hundreds of such stories here. As for my relatives, there is no information about dozens of them. Same with scores of journalist colleagues and friends.

But many have not left their homes despite army boats reaching them. They are scared that the moment they leave, whatever that is left at home would be taken away by the gangs of thieves.

Lack of connectivity is one of the biggest logistical problems. Authorities claim that 50 per cent of mobile connectivity is restored but in reality, it is not even 10 per cent. BSNL and Airtel connections are not working. Aircel network is available but only in some areas.

There is apprehension as to what will happen to the cash deposits in scores of banks across the state as well as the cash in the main state treasury situated on Residency Road in Lal Chowk which are under water. The chiefminister has assured the people that cash in banks as well as treasury is safe.

In south Kashmir, Anant Nag, Pulwama and Pehlgam have been devastated by floods. Almost 90 per cent of people there are affected. In north Kashmir, parts of Badgam, Baramulla and Bandipore districts are badly hit. In north, only Ganderbal, Kupwara and Shopean districts remain largely unaffected. On Friday, 40 bodies were retrieved from Pancheri village in Udhampur district in Jammu division, devastated by landslide. There are reports that several bodies are lying in different police stations in Srinagar. No one knows about the identity of these bodies.

Rehabilitation in J&K will take years. Public infrastructure is badly affected. In hospitals, all equipment, be it CT scan, x-ray, MRI machines etc are badly damaged under muddy water. Even if water recedes, it won’t be of much help.