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Lakhs stranded, awaiting rescue; Flood situation still grim

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 9/9/2014 10:35:46 AM

Army intensifies rescue Ops, over 25,000 rescued, lodged in relief camps

UDHAMPUR, Sep 8: Lakhs of people still remain stranded in the Valley where massive rescue operations were underway on a warfooting today after floods ravaged Jammu and Kashmir and telecom links with Srinagar were snapped adding to the miseries of the affected.
As the death toll in the worst flooding to hit the state in six decades inched towards 200, the Centre has rushed more National Disaster Response Forces (NDRF) teams equipped with boats and other flood relief equipment. Naval commandos were also deployed for the first time.
Army, Air force, Navy, NDRF and state agencies have so far rescued more than 25,000 people and lodged them in higher places in the Valley. There was only slight drizzle in Srinagar and other parts of the Valley today in some relief after the state was pounded by rains since Tuesday even as the water level in many flood-hit areas slowly began to recede. The water level in Dal Lake in Srinagar is, however, rising.
"The situation in Kashmir valley still remains critical," Lt Gen D S Hooda, General-Officer-Commanding of the Army's Northern Command, told reporters in Udhampur.
"In the next 48 hours our focus remains on Srinagar," he said. NDRF chief O P Singh said the flood situation in Srinagar and other parts of the Valley was "very acute". As dozens of boats were deployed in Srinagar by rescue agencies, desperate residents were huddled on rooftops and upper floors of their houses in several areas hoping to escape the flood waters. The state government, however, requsitioned for more boats, officials said.
With improvement in weather conditions, Army will intensify its rescue operation in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir while focusing first on Srinagar city and South Kashmir where a large number of people remain trapped in their houses without any basic amenities, said Lt Gen Hooda.
Noting that the troops were facing several challenges in the operation 'Megh Rahat', Lt Gen Hooda today said they were trying to reach the people who were in the most precarious conditions as quickly as possible though they have received thousands of messages seeking help.
Talking to reporters at Udhampur-based headquarters, Hooda said that situation in Jammu was limping back to normalcy and roads leading to other areas around Jammu would be restored within next 48 hours.
"As I said for the next 48 hours, our focus remains on Srinagar and South Kashmir because there are still large number of people who are stranded and who are without any food and water.
"It's our idea to get them out as soon as possible. We will continue operation Megh Rahat till everyone is pulled out of this situation," he said.
He also said that army has taken up repair of border fencing damaged in the worst floods in six decades as it apprehends that militants might take advantage of the situation to infiltrate into the state.
"They (militants) may come. So we have strengthened Army's presence in these areas. The repair work has immediately begun. We will do it very quickly," he said.
The massive floods in J&K have claimed over 200 lives, damaged infrastructure and left tens of thousands of people marooned.
Hooda assured the people that rescue operations will pick up as additional engineering teams and boats have arrived.
Asked about delay in relief and rescue operations in south Kashmir, he said they were affected by the inclement weather as the Valley was lashed by torrential rains for nearly five days.
He said, "Nobody thought it would rain incessantly for so long and the gushing water cut-off Army's boats in Srinagar and Banihal," a small town in Jammu division before entry to Kashmir.
The weather was so bad that no sortie could be taken till September 5, Hooda said.
The Commander said that Army itself was badly affected as some of its posts in Aknoor and Munawar in Jammu region had been badly damaged.
"There is also 14 feet water in Badami Bagh cantonment and large number of ordnance equipment, supply depot are under water. But despite that our rescue efforts continue unabated.
"In the Kashmir valley, the situation still remains critical particularly in the areas around Srinagar and areas in South Kashmir where there is fairly high level of flooding in these areas," Lt Gen Hooda said.
He said the Kashmir Valley was cut off from Jammu as well as from Leh. "We are hopeful of restoring traffic from Zojila pass on Srinagar-Leh highway so that some supplies are moved from there," he said.
"We saw that houses near Jhelum have water up to second floor and people have collected at the third storey. We are helping them. It is difficult for water to drain out very quickly as Jhelum is the only outlet in the Valley.
"There are villages which have been marooned in different areas. Reaching them is not an easy job, it's a difficult work," Hooda said.
About Jammu-Srinagar Highway, Lt Gen Hooda said that road at ahead of Ramsoo was submerged in water and there were continuing landslides in the area.
He said Army was working overtime to repair the national highway and was hopeful that it would be cleared for traffic in four-five days if "weather holds up".
Even though sorties for relief material are flying out tourists and others trapped in the Valley, it is difficult for people stranded in different places to reach airport because roads are under water, he said.
Giving further details, Lt Gen Hooda maintained that south Kashmir is cut off, thus food and water supply is being flown in from Chandigarh.
Besides this, more supplies are reaching from Kanpur and Vishakhapatnam, he said.
He said "Our rescue efforts will continue till everyone is pulled out and rescued. We are looking at four to five days to restore connectivity up to Srinagar and also Reasi."
Some Army teams will go to the Pir Panjal mountains to check out the tribal Gujjars and Bakarwals, he said.
People in the flood-affected areas of Poonch are being provided with healthcare and other relief materials by the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Lt General said.
He said that so far, 20,000 people have been rescued from the flood-affected areas, while 60 medical teams have been deployed.
In Delhi, the Defence Ministry said that around 18,000 Army personnel and 52 aircraft and helicopters of air force have been pressed into the relief operations along with Special Forces of the Navy.
To restore the damaged communication network in the state, especially in Kashmir Valley, air force is airlifting BSNL equipment while Army has also started work in that regard, according to a Defence Ministry release here.
"Army has evacuated 23,530 stranded persons in the state. It has deployed 215 columns of its personnel for rescue and relief operations," it said.
Navy has assigned its teams deployed for counter-terrorist operations in the Wullar lake region to pitch in with flood relief efforts. They are said to have rescued around 200 persons at Haigaon on the Srinagar-Sopore highway.
"Rescue efforts are now continuing near Pantha Chowk, Srinagar," said Navy spokesperson, Capt. DK Sharma.
Fifty-seven army boats and 118 National Disaster Response Force inflatable boats are actively involved in the rescue operations while 30 more inflatable boats are being airlifted from Arakonam, Tamil Nadu, the ministry said.
The tri-services headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff, is keeping an eye on the developments in J&K and issuing directions regarding the relief operations.
With phone lines down, more than 2,000 government employees, students and police in Srinagar have no contact with their families in Jammu for the last three days.
List of locations where people are stranded in Srinagar:
1. Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical sciences: Around 200 students
2. Jhelum View Hotel: 35 Jammu-based civil secretariat employees
3. Karan Nagar Shopping Centre opposite J&K Bank: 30 people
4. Girls' hostel, Government Medical College, Srinagar: 250 people, out of which 95 are from Jammu.
5. Karim Hotel, Indira Nagar: 30 people
6. Alochi Bagh, near auto stand: 32 people
7. Kothi Bagh girls' school: 10 people
8. At a house in Indira Nagar near Manaranjan Hotel: 30 people
9. Chocolate Complex, Karan Nagar, Srinagar: 10 people
10. Indira Nagar, near Mandir, C-72: Five people
11. Guni Khan Mohalla, Amira Kadal, opposite Riverview Hotel, Srinagar: 25 children