Kashmir Floods: Flood, Blood And Bowl
By Tahir Ibn Manzoor
20 September, 2014
Countercurrents.org
After the incessant rains lashed the Kashmir valley for a week, the swirling waters has claimed more than 280 lives across the Jammu & Kashmir state. The heavy downpour triggered the landslides, rains lashed the valley from September 3rd leaving tens of thousands homeless and ruining thousands acres of standing crops after the unprecedented floods hits Kashmir. Trees were uprooted, so as, electric poles, houses and the roads were submerged and severely damaged. The mounds in houses give the proper look of destruction in the sunken city. The Jhelum embankment eroding was reported in the city. Thousands flee Saturday night after the flood water enters in the residential houses in the Srinagar city.
It’s estimated that more than 1,000 Crore loss to apple industry broke its back due to the unprecedented floods. The breach in the Jhelum has inundated the parts of the Srinagar city is under r 20-30 feet water level in some areas like Raj Bagh, Jawhar Nagar, Sonwar and Shivpora leaving tens of thousands people stranded in flood stricken areas like south Kashmir and Summer capital Srinagar. South Kashmir remained cut-off from the Srinagar city for a week.
A visit
After the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was marshalling his troops from the royal spring golf-course, it was a gloomy morning I was on the way to Srinagar, I found the animal carcasses floating and some dogs in a group eating the flesh, their party begins with the smelly making a way in the inundated city and the outskirts, people were seen crying for the help some were hungry and some lampooned the government for not being able to do anything in the crucial time while the water level was rising in most parts of the city. Also, Kashmir has been affected by the floods in 1902, 1959. According to the Indian media more than 15 airforce planes, 29 choppers were operational in the flood-hit Kashmir valley for the ongoing operation Sahayita. But whom they were actually saving when the operation was on war-foot in Kashmir? This question is in everyone’s mind and this needs to be answered soon…
Damage
The newly constructed houses, bridges were damaged in the flash floods. Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway was closed after incessant rains triggered the landslides and the incidents of shooting stones also took place in various areas on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway. Hajj flights, train service was suspending owing to heavy downpour across the valley.
Kashmir lacks the basic amenities in many parts of the flood stricken areas and around it.
Most of the parts of the Kashmir valley were reeling under the darkness since past 8 days. Cellular network was down and the Internet service has been hampered since September 8, 2014. Now it has been partially restored in parts of the city and across the Kashmir.
Outlook
Srinagar was literally a lake for more than 12 days in which houses, hospitals, schools, government buildings were submerged up to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor, people were seen on their rooftops waiting to get rescued or just to be safe from the flood waters, reporters were seen reporting while the water level was above their shoulders. Locals were rowing the boats to rescue the stranded people while as Army and NDRF were mostly seen rescuing the VIPs and non-locals.
Reportedly expired food was airdropped to the affected people in the Kashmir valley. Locals alleged that state government has failed to deliver at the crucial juncture when the people were needed to be rescued.
Volunteering
More than 1500 villages got affected by the worst floods of its recent history since past five decades. As parts of Srinagar submerged in flood waters, demands for rescue boats rise when the flood waters receded in south Kashmir.
In the other towns and villages which were safe from the flood waters were seen carrying trucks loaded with food and drinking water. Some came up with their own boats and the tyre-tubes to rescue the people in flood-hit Srinagar while rowing their boats on the waters in inundated city for many days.
NGOs were seen on the work to dispatch the relief to the flood-hit Kashmir. Local volunteers were seen evacuating the people to safer areas. Students, journalists also joined the hand to rescue the people and distribute the food among the victims while the army boats and choppers were mostly seen in the footages carrying the non-locals and installing the relief tents, for which the National media was claiming the heroics in their air-conditioned newsrooms, while tens of thousands were still stranded waiting to get rescued from the submerged areas of the sunken city.
The Correspondent of ETV URDU Rifat Abdullah, had saved more the 75 lives by rescuing them to safer area after the flood water entered the houses where he was staying on the Saturday night.
The local mosques became the shelter for the thousands of affected people in the flood-hit Kashmir.
Institutes Closed
The Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah two weeks before ordered closure of Government and private schools and colleges in the Jammu and Kashmir State.
The closure was ordered only to ensure safety of school going children in view of incessant rains in Kashmir which later creates havoc.
University of Kashmir and Central University had also suspended the class work due to unprecedented floods in Srinagar and south Kashmir.
As per the government orders the institutes reopened in parts of the Baramulla district on Saturday, September 20, 2014.
Background
People were seen comparing the unprecedented 2014-flash floods with July 2nd 1959 floods, which hits the parts of Kashmir valley, when many were killed with a huge damage to standing crops and livestock and hundreds of houses were damaged. The magnitude of the tragedy was so large in 50s.
Media
3 lakh people has been evacuated so far to safer places and 2 lakh people are still stranded in which many denied to come out of their homes with the fear of loot and plunder in the flood furry, reports the media.
A women on one of the Tv news channel said, “here we are dying in our homes, water entered in our houses in the midnight, we are starving from the past 3 days, we didn’t receive any basic amenities from the government or any civil administration where is our government? We were rescued by our own brothers and sons.”
In her mid fifties talking to Kashmir Outlook one of the victims said “government completely failed to get up and deliver. We were left to die and to live of our own… Heroes were behind the scenes.”
A lean man with the curled hair sitting on the window crooned, “they were saving the non-locals for a moment I thought I was in Bihar.”
Aftermath
The shallow graves were seen around the bund, animal carcasses were floating, so as, the belongings of the affected people which once were in use. Dogs are jumping on the dead animals as if they were hungry for years, while the birds can be seen flying low for the morsel of the food. An elderly man was seen crying for help. The mound in houses speaks the volumes about the calamity.
With many areas still submerged, the waters are receding in the other parts of the city, with over 30 water-pumps have been installed to drain out the flood water from the flood stricken areas of the ill-fated city.
The magnitude of the tragedy is very huge mostly the local volunteers were seen rescuing the stranded people on their shoulders, cots and self made boats using the plastic drums. The water-borne disease threat looms large.
The author is an Online Editor at Kashmir Outlook Kashmir based monthly online magazine. He tweets at @TahirIbnManzoor
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