Calamity binds people across religious lines, as state administration collapses

JAMMU: The scale of the calamity that has hit Jammu & Kashmir has bound people together like never before cutting across social and religious lines. Residents in safer areas are sheltering as many flood-hit people in their houses, gurdwaras, mosques and temples, as they possibly can.

Reports said thousands of people were being sheltered in mosques across Srinagar, where local volunteers were looking after them despite scarcity of food, potable water and medicines. Some residents were even housing as many as two dozen people in their houses.

A gurdwara in Bhagat Barzullah on the airport road was sheltering around 2,000 people. A langar (community kitchen) there was working round the clock despite difficulties. A free medical camp has been set up a few kilometres away in Sanatnagar inside a relief camp.

Jammu resident Sachin Sharma told TOI he had taken shelter outside Srinagar's Shankaracharya Temple atop a hill near the Dal Lake along with his family. "The temple volunteers are looking after 1,500 people there,'' said Sharma, who was holidaying in Srinagar and was staying with his extended family at a hotel in Jawahar Nagar. The hotel was totally submerged on Sunday when they somehow managed to reach the Shankaracharaya camp.

Trucks carrying relief, potable water bottles, blankets, fruits, biscuits, and candles were rushed from relatively safer Sopore to a relief camp on the Kashmir University campus in Srinagar via Bandipora in north Kashmir.

Submerged vehicles in Srinagar (PTI Photo)

Civilian volunteers along with the Army were doing the bulk of the rescue work as the state administration has nearly collapsed. Even chief minister Omar Abdullah acknowledged this. "I have not spoken to 90% of my cabinet due to communication breakdown," he told Times Now.

Congress leader Salman Soz cited a reliable source saying once people are rescued, there is not anyone from the government to take care of them. "There were far too many people compared with boats available for rescue," he wrote on Facebook citing the source. "In some areas, people are reluctant to leave their homes because they feel there is no other place for them to go."

Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari echoed Soz. "While the civilian government has no address in Kashmir, people are doing a commendable job in rescuing and arranging food etc. for flood victims," he said. He added Srinagar's historic central square of Lal Chowk was still inaccessible and he has been unable to reach his office and stranded staff there for four days.

The Army had till Wednesday morning evacuated over 76,000 people, which is a fraction of the estimated six lakh people marooned. The apocalyptic proportions of the disaster are becoming clearer as communications networks are slowly being restored. The real challenge would start after the flood waters recede completely when the local administration would have to deal with possible epidemics and the colossal loss of infrastructure along with life and property. The administration has been caught napping and has made it worse by not reacting to warning signals.

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage had sounded off the state government about its lack of preparedness in coping with disasters like floods in a 2009 report.

It had warned against constructions in Srinagar's low-lying areas along the Jhelum banks that had blocked flood channels. The report observed embankments around Jhelum that caused most flooding were built over a century ago. The government had planned dredging project in the Jhelum based on the report before dropping it suddenly.

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