Makwal village, Sept 8
For two days, Makwal village and its surrounding areas, 27 km west of Jammu, were ravaged by the floodwaters after the Tawi breached its embankment and flowed into villages, mostly inhabited by poor farmers.

While hundreds of families struggled to save themselves from the wrath of the river after rain lashed Jammu and Kashmir for four days from September 3, thousands of acres of land with maize, pulses and vegetable crop was destroyed by the floods.

Although the extent of the damage is yet to be ascertained as the administration is involved in rescue and relief work, the floodwaters have left a trail of destruction in hamlets and villages on the banks of various rivers.

Though water has receded in the last 48 hours, fields are waterlogged.

“We could only watch the destruction unleashed by the Tawi as it breached its embankment and water inundated the fields. We will face starvation in the coming weeks, if relief is not provided immediately,” said Choudhary Chaman, a resident of Barjala village, ravaged by the floodwaters from the Tawi.

Farmers in Akhnoor, 25 km from Jammu, have been badly affected by the Chenab. The Marh, Gajansoo, Bishnah, Suchetgarh, Kathua, Samba and Hiranagar areas were inundated by the floodwaters from rivulets, destroying the standing crop of vegetables.

Reports say in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch and in Udhampur and Doda districts, damages are severe but there is no assessment of the damages as the areas are cut off from rest of the state.

“Rain would not have damaged the crop but wherever floodwaters have entered, standing crop of maize, pulses and vegetables have been damaged. The exact data will be revealed after when the Agriculture Department sends its teams. However, heavy rain would not impact paddy because due to the weak monsoon this year it was cultivated late,” said BC Sharma, agrometeorologist at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu.

Officials said as rain had stopped, the government had given instructions for making detailed assessment of losses and the Chief Agriculture Officers concerned had been advised to furnish crop-wise and area-wise damages.

The National Agriculture Insurance Scheme was launched about five years ago in the state with an aim to cover the cultivators and their crops, but it has failed to help the farmers. It does not provide any help to people because as per rules, compensation is given in case of 50 per cent loss to crops in a block.

Srinagar, September 8
As the state battles the worst floods in six decades, there is need for motorised boats to rescue the people from marooned houses in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir.

Those involved in the rescue operations, particularly in Srinagar city, say they feel handicapped in the absence of boats which could help them rescue people submerged in the floodwaters.

“In this rescue operation what we need are motorised boats and other rescue equipment which is lacking in many submerged areas of the Kashmir valley,” said a police officer.

“Though there are some boats that are being used to rescue people, given the magnitude of the flood in Srinagar, we need over 1,000 motorised boats and that too on a war footing to get out the trapped people from thousands of submerged houses in Srinagar city,” the police officer added.

A state government official said the Union Government had dispatched more motorised boats to assist in the rescue operation but the floodwaters were submerging more areas.

“There are various agencies such as the Army, National Disaster Response Force, police and other security agencies which have pressed their boats into service to rescue people but these are not enough. We have been constantly getting distress calls from trapped residents but we feel helpless as we have limited rescue apparatus,” the official said.

Residents in Raj Bagh, Jawahar Nagar, Indira Nagar and Mehjoor Nagar alleged that the government was not rescuing them and they had to wait for hours for help.“We called control rooms of the government but phone lines were not working. We also called the helpline of Radio Kashmir for sending out a distress call but that also did not work. Finally, help came after three days,” said Ali Mohammad, a resident of Raj Bagh who was trapped in his three-storeyed house since Saturday morning.

Though there are some boats that are being used to rescue people, given the magnitude of the flood in Srinagar, we need over 1,000 motorised boats and that too on a war footing to get out the trapped people from thousands of submerged houses in Srinagar city.
A Police Officer

Fortyfive villages of Jammu district have been cut off from the rest of the state for the past three days. Tribune Photo: Inderjeet Singh.

Barzala, September 8
For the past three days, Joginder Lal, 42, along with his family members is stuck up on one side of the Tawi river as the only bridge to connect his native place with the rest of the country collapsed on Saturday morning due to torrential rains and floods.

Frustrated with the apathetic approach adopted by the authorities concerned, he along with his wife Sunita this afternoon made abortive attempt to cross the Tawi river by wading through the strong currents of the water to reach his native place of Parladhpur.

Joginder Lal was so desperate to reach home that he put the lives of his wife and children at stake, but he could not pass through the strong current of the water.

“For the past three days, I and my family are stuck up at Barzala,” Joginder told The Tribune, adding, “There is no one to take care of my ailing aged mother at my village so I tried to cross the river but of no avail.”

Parladhpur is among the 45 villages of Jammu district that has been cut off from the rest of the world for the past three days. Miseries of the inhabitants of these villages have been compounding with very passing day, but nothing has been done so far to restore connectivity in this region known as Tawi Island.

Located on the west of Jammu city, this belt comprised eight panchayats, namely Mandal, Akhalpur, Khandwal, Swanjana, Parladhpur, Sumb, Makwal and Haripur, with a population of over 1.5 lakh people.

Although the entire population is facing hardships, patients and elderly people are bearing the maximum brunt because none of the health centre is functioning in this belt. “On Sunday, an Army chopper had airlifted a pregnant woman and shifted her to Jammu, but from the side of the civil population no effort has been made to provide some relief to the patients,” said Nand Kishore, a resident of this belt, said.

It seems that the population of nearly 1.5 lakh souls has plunged into “dark age”, because there is no power, no telecommunication network, no road connectivity, no ration and no health facility.

The only bridge connecting this entire region with the rest of the world collapsed on Saturday morning and till date no effort has been made by the state government to restore road connectivity.

The span of the bridge, which was constructed in 1983, collapsed at Barzala village from Jammu side. Hence, people are camping at this village which was also marooned in the floods.

Joginder Lal is not an isolated case. More than 2,000 people have been stuck up on this side of the Tawi river. Daljeet Singh, a native of Nandpur Rakhwal village, which falls under the Makwal panchayat, regretted that even after passing of three days nothing has been done to restore the road connectivity.

Residents demanded that like the Kashmir valley, boats should also be pressed into service in this region to ferry the needy people.

Jammu, September 8
About 2,000 displaced Kashmiri Pandit youth, engaged in various departments under the Prime Minister’s employment package and working in various parts of the Valley, are cut off from their families in Jammu for the last three days.

A majority of the displaced Pandit government employees, working in Srinagar, have not made any contact with their families in Jammu and other parts of the country, creating panic among the families.

The areas such as Shivpora, Indira Nagar, Balgarden and several parts of Srinagar city, severely affected by the floods, is home to a majority of the Pandit government employees, transferred by their respective departments from Jammu.

Many Darbar Move employees are also stuck in hotels. “My husband and mother-in-law are stuck in the Indira Nagar area and I have not been able to contact them. I am worried as my husband has acute asthma. None of the helpline numbers is functional. I don’t know what to do,” said Archana Koul, wife of Vijay Raina, a government employee. As communication lines have snapped, there is no information about the Pandit youth.

“My friend, Vicky Sharma, is posted in Mattan but since September 4, I am unable to contact him. His family is also worried as the situation in the Kashmir valley is grave. No one from the administration has been able to give any information,” said Sunil Koul who lives in Janipur.

Reports say that several Kashmiri Hindus who were on visit to religious places in the Valley are stranded at the Zeshtha Devi Temple and are without food, water, medicines and other essentials.

“Secretariat employees putting up in hotels and private rented houses, tourists, Prime Minister package employees are the worst hit as help has not reached them. The government should press the Indian Air Force aircraft into service to evacuate the stranded people so that they can meet their families,” said Sanjay Bhat, a social activist.

Baramullah, September 8
After having devastated parts of south and central Kashmir, including Srinagar city, the swollen Jhelum river is headed towards north Kashmir threatening the residents with the dangers of displacement from their homes.

The Jhelum waters have entered several areas in north Kashmir, including Sonawari, Hajjan, Sumbal, creating panic among residents. The horror is drawing closer to north Kashmir districts of Baramullah, Bandipora as the Srinagar-Baramullah highway is gradually getting inundated by floodwaters heading north.

North Kashmir had also experienced heavy rains but the floodwaters were confined to the Jhelum river; south Kashmir, wherefrom the river originates, has suffered massive damage. The waters in south Kashmir’s Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian districts have started receding, but have started rising in Srinagar city and north Kashmir.

The floodwaters have also raised the water level of the Wullar, posing danger to dozens of villages and localities around Asia’s largest fresh water lake. The woes of north Kashmir have been multiplied by the breach of embankments by the Hokersar wetland.

Several hundred houses have collapsed and thousands of people are trapped in their submerged houses in the Valley. They are helpless as all communication links have broken and there is no connectivity.

While the Army and the National Disaster Response Force have evacuated several hundreds of people from the submerged localities, still a large number of them are without any rescue teams in sight.

Jammu, September 8
The restoration of train connectivity between Jammu and Katra may take a long time as a bridge between Bajalta and Sangar has been damaged badly with the heavy rain in Jammu.

The rail link between Jammu and Katra remained closed for the third consecutive day due to landslides at many spots on the railway track and a bridge between Bajalta and Sangar getting badly damaged.

The 78-km-long Jammu-Katra rail link was suspended on Saturday due to the heavy rain in Jammu. A team of the Northern Railway has inspected the damage on the track as well as the bridge between Bajalta and Sangarh.

The railway authorities, however, have not disclosing the time of restoration of the rail link, but as per the sources, the repair of bridge may take long and the pilgrims of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine will have to go by road only.

“Due to soil erosion from the sides of the bridge, it has caved in and it may take a month to restore the bridge, depending upon the speed of work by the construction department of the Northern Railway,” sources said.

RN Meena, Divisional Traffic Manager, said, “The train service between Jammu and Katra has been suspended as a bridge between Bajalta and Sangar was damaged in the flood and there are heavy landslides between Jammu and Sangar.”

“A team, headed by Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), is on the site and inspecting the damage,” he added.

The 25-km-long rail link between Udhampur and Katra was inaugurated by Prime Minister, Narender Modi on July 4, which provided a direct train link for Katra for the pilgrims of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.

Samba, September 8
The police in a joint operation with other security forces arrested a person and seized a foreign-made pistol, five rounds of bullet along with counterfeit notes worth Rs 8,000 from his possession.

“On a tip-off, the police conducted a surprise raid at a private guest house in Samba and arrested the person,” said a senior police official.

The police recovered a US-made pistol, five live rounds of bullet and fake currency in denomination of Rs 1,000 from his possession, he added.