Srinagar/New Delhi: The armed forces stepped up rescue efforts in Jammu and Kashmir, with over 47,000 people evacuated so far, and government agencies tried to restore road and communication links snapped in the state’s worst floods in 50 years, which have left nearly 200 people dead and damaged infrastructure.
Aid for the beleaguered northern state poured in with various state governments announcing aid and relief material — Uttar Pradesh pledged Rs200m, Maharashtra Rs100m, Bihar Rs90m, and Odisha Rs50m. Congress legislators in Goa decided to pool in a month’s salary and the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party sent two truckloads of relief supplies.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitendra Singh, who hails from the state, said the Narendra Modi government was doing everything it could to help Jammu and Kashmir tide over the flood calamity and stressed that this was not the time for a blame game over the floods.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the first priority of the government was to save human lives.
Various agencies, including the armed forces and the National Disaster Response Force, made coordinated efforts to rescue people, many of them clinging on to rooftops. With the floods having washed away most roads, people remained stranded in several parts of the state.
Officials estimate that the toll across the state could be around 200, but it is feared that it could be much higher.
“The damage is shocking,” a senior official from the National Disaster Response Force said in New Delhi. “People have been stranded on the rooftops of their homes for the last three days in some parts of Kashmir.”
The official, who requested anonymity, said he would have deployed disaster-response teams earlier, but “we were all caught off guard because there was not a single warning issued by the weather office. The flash floods took us by surprise”.
The meteorological department had forecast heavy rain in Kashmir last week, but the Central Water Commission, which issues flood advisories, has been criticised by Indian media for not warning the state.
A defence ministry spokesperson said that the armed forces and NDRF had so far rescued 47,227 people across the state.
Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth yesterday chaired a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee to review the situation as floodwaters continued to play havoc in Srinagar.
Though the water level in the Jhelum river had receded marginally, the backwaters of Dal lake inundated more areas in the city.
Large parts of Srinagar are still under several feet of water and telecommunications and electricity lines are down.
Efforts were on to restore the telecommunications network. Officials said that four satellite transmitting towers were to be set up in Srinagar and other places by last evening.
More than 500 students of the National Institute of Technology in the Hazratbal area were shifted from their hostel to safer locations after water from Dal lake entered the campus. Floodwaters have also entered parts of Hazratbal shrine but the authorities confirmed that the holy relic of the Prophet it houses was safe as only the shrine’s ground floor has been inundated.
Home ministry officials said that food and water supply to the state was being stepped up and 1,25,000 packets of biscuits, 100,000 litres of potable water, 150 tonnes of ready-to-eat food and food packets were being made available.
The officials said that over 250 boats had been deployed in relief and rescue efforts.
With power supply in the Valley disrupted, 6,000 solar lanterns were being mobilised. Air India has declared free passage for tourists trapped in Srinagar.
The army has distributed 7,200 blankets and 210 tents to flood victims while 80 teams of the Armed Forces Medical Services have been pressed into action.
Indian Air Force aircraft and helicopters have undertaken 451 sorties, dropping 563 tonnes of relief material.
A defence ministry spokesperson said that five task forces of Border Roads Organisation, which include 5,700 personnel, have been pressed into service to restore road connectivity.
The army also restored road connectivity to Kashmir Valley from the Leh region. The valley has been cut off from the rest of the country for seven days.
Road connectivity between Srinagar and south Kashmir’s Anantnag district and central Kashmir’s Badgam district has been restored, but the Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained closed for the sixth day yesterday.
Jitendra Singh told the media in New Delhi that BSNL was trying to restore communications links in Srinagar, but it would take a few days more.
IANS
