Srinagar, September 12
A handful of areas in Srinagar city had managed to stay reasonably safe from the flood fury. However, now these areas too have started to bear the brunt of flood aftermath with the administration missing.

With just a few shops, mostly groceries, found open that have still some supplies left, piles of garbage have started collecting on the dusty roadsides of areas that had not submerged. The usual rush of vehicles too is missing as the petrol stations are running dry and there is a hartal-like situation.

“Just look at the garbage that has started collecting at the Sanatnagar chowk and it is piling every passing day. If this is the condition of unaffected areas, one can imagine what sort of problems flood-hit areas will face in the coming days,” said Abdul Rashid, a resident of uptown Rawalpora. The premises of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) that looks after the sanitation of the summer capital is still submerged in water.Most of the shops in dry areas are closed. “The stocks have finished, what will we sell? For us, last week has just been like hartal days,” said Tariq Ahmad, a shopkeeper.

The Valley shopkeepers get their supplies via the Srinagar-Jammu national highway that has remained closed after floods. Petrol pumps too are shut and have become a cause of worry.

“Though we are thankful to the Almighty as our area did not submerge, we too are facing several problems. I had to take my child for vaccination. I do not know if I will find the right doctor and I do not want to take the risk of using the little petrol that is left in my car,” said a resident of Rangreth.

Stranded trucks wait on the Sidhra Road for the highway to reopen in Jammu on Friday. Tribune Photo: Inderjeet Singh

Bottlenecks in several areas

• The 300-km highway is blocked at several places due to flash floods and landslides
• Aerial survey of the track from Banihal to Udhampur has revealed that the road is damaged at several places. The worst blockade is in Gagroo area near Ramsoo where the highway has been blocked due to heavy landslides
• At present, over 2,000 Srinagar-bound vehicles are stranded at various places on the highway
• Most of the vehicles have been stopped at Nagrota

Jammu, September 12
Tales of angels and mercenaries are coming from the submerged Kashmir Valley, which is presently grappling with the worst-ever floods in 109 years after incessant rains last week.

Apart from the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Air Force and other agencies engaged in rescue and relief operations across the state, there are local volunteers in the Kashmir valley who had also been working hard to rescue trapped people from submerged houses and shifting them to safer places.

However, there have been “mercenaries”, who in the garb of volunteered services, are missing no opportunity to fleece and dupe the trapped people, particularly government employees, tourists from outside Kashmir and locals too.

“There were volunteers who did not bother about their lives at this critical juncture and rescued people from houses which were submerged in 15 to 30 feet under the flood water. They ferried the trapped tourists and non-Kashmiri people to safer places in their boats selflessly,” says Sanjay Kumar, a government employee who returned to Jammu after facing a four-day trauma in Srinagar.

Kumar said all such volunteers were not less than angels for rescued tourists and government employees. “They did not care about their lives and tirelessly contributed to the rescue operation launched by various Central agencies. Their role cannot be underestimated,” he said.

The Army has deployed around 30,000 troops for rescue and relief operations, in which 21,000 troops are deployed in the Srinagar region and 9,000 troops in the Jammu region.

It has also deployed a total of 224 boats in Srinagar and adjoining areas while 148 inflatable boats of the NDRF have also been involved in the rescue operation there. Besides, local youth h ave volunteered their services to rescue the trapped people.

Satpal Sharma, a Jammu-based businessman, who remained stranded in Rajbagh area for three days, said, “It was really a horrifying experience for the trapped people. They were fleeced by some locals who charged hefty amounts to ferry them in their boats to safer places. Some trapped tourists and non-Kashmiri people had to offer their ornaments to get out of flooded areas. Some charged amounts as high as Rs 10,000 to transport harried people to safer places.”

Security agencies need to put a check on such malpractices and book all these people under law, he said.

Jammu, September 12
All the educational institutions in the Jammu province, which were closed on September 5 following unprecedented rains and flash floods in the state, were reopened today.

Chief Education Officer (CEO), Jammu, Tarsem Lal said, “All schools reopened today and normal class work has been resumed.”

When asked about how the loss of studies could be covered, the CEO said the department is mulling various options to overcome the loss.

“There is nothing to panic as we are trying to conduct extra classes in schools so that the syllabuses can be covered in time. For example, if the closure time of a school is 1 pm, we can ask the management to extend it further so that maximum time can be given to cover the syllabus,” CEO Tarsem Lal said.

“Another option is that if the duration of one period is 40 minutes, the school management will be told to extend it so as to cover the syllabus and there will be no additional burden on students,” he maintained.

The CEO stated that that annual exams of Class X and Class XII will be held on time. “I do not think there will be any delay in the conduct of the annual examinations owing to this recent week-long break. We have still a lot of time left and I am sure that the syllabus will be completed in time and we will be able to make all necessary arrangements in a proper manner,” the CEO opined.

Meanwhile, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the University of Jammu Vinay Thusoo, when contacted, said all the examinations which were scheduled to be held till September 13 stand postponed and fresh dates will be announced later. He added that the examinations which are scheduled to be conducted after September 13 will be held as per schedule.

Rajouri, September 12
After six days of flood fury, the state government sent a helicopter to Rajouri to drop relief material to the people who have been spending nights in the open or in some tents provided by local Army units.

Criticising the state government and the local administration for “neglecting” flood victims of Rajouri, PDP MLA from Darhal Zulfikar Choudhary and former Kalakot MLA Ashok Sharma said in both their constituencies, flood victims were still awaiting government relief and were facing many difficulties like shortage of ration, kerosene, LPG and milk.

The Divisional Commissioner today provided a chopper and about 100 packets of relief prepared by the CA&PD Department were dropped in the Seri Hattan (Ghamir Muglan) area.

However, due to poor coordination, some urgent relief material couldn’t be dropped in the Khawas and Kotranka areas as after remaining in the air for 20 minutes, the chopper returned back with the relief material.

“As we couldn’t find a proper place, the relief material was brought back. If possible, another attempt will be made on Saturday, otherwise the material will be sent to Kotranka for further distribution by the police and other agencies/officials concerned,” said Jatinder Singh, Deputy Commissioner.

Choudhary said though more than 3,000 houses had been damaged in the floods and landslides in the district and hundreds of people in the Darhal constituency had been rendered homeless, officials concerned were busy collecting relief forms instead of providing immediate help.

Ashok Sharma criticised the district and the state authorities for giving “wrong information” about the damages in the Kalakot constituency.

“Till Friday, no relief was sent to victims in Bainambal, Simblegala, Badgai, Mehrot, Barwari, Padrigai, Androla and many places where people have been staying in tents provided by the Army. Some of them were spending nights in government schools and a few in the open,” Sharma said.

He added that the process of submitting relief forms was complicated and time consuming.

He said more than 230 families in the Kalakot constituency were taking shelter in temporary accommodations as their houses had been damaged and more than 500 tents, sufficient ration and kerosene oil was immediately required. Out of 383 villages in Rajouri district, 368 villages are affected by the recent floods and landslides.

Srinagar, September 12
As the water level recedes, the flood-affected residents of the Kashmir valley living in makeshift camps are now worried about their future in view of the approaching winters.

“We are left with nothing to eat and nowhere to go as our houses have been completely damaged by the floods. We are lucky to have survived, but we are worried where we will live now,” said Ghulam Qadir, a resident of Suthra Shahi locality of the city, who along with his family was rescued by the Army and is being airlifted to Jammu.

“We are now going to Jammu to stay with our daughter for a few days, but we have to return home in Kashmir to face the harsh reality,” he said.

The state government said extent of the damage caused by the floods was huge and it could only be assessed when the flood water recedes.

“The damage caused by the flooding is huge and there are many areas which are still under water. We want the people and the governments across the country to send water pumps to drain out water from residential areas,” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said.

The Chief Minister said in view of the upcoming winter season in the Valley, the priority of his government was to rehabilitate the people affected by the floods.

“We want blankets and so far not many blankets have reached us. We request people across the country to send us blankets,” Omar said.

As the flood water has started receding, the complete picture of the extent of the damage caused by the floods is becoming visible. A large number of houses have collapsed across Srinagar city with thousands of residents living in makeshift relief camps being run by various organisations, besides the Army and the civil administration also setting up various relief centres.

“We are more worried about our future as our house has completely collapsed and I along with my entire family have been staying in this makeshift relief camp being set up by the BSF. We have a very bleak future ahead due to the upcoming winters,” said Hasan Mir who along with his family of four has been staying in a relief camp being set up by the BSF near the Srinagar airport.

Assembly Speaker Mubarak Gul said, “We want money and lots of relief material, so that we can rehabilitate the flood-hit people of Kashmir. We are afraid that the winters might be more dangerous to these people as compared to the floods.”—PTI

Jammu, September 12
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), Jammu, today requested the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide more boats and helicopters for flood-affected people of Jammu and Kashmir.

It also urged the Prime Minister to send a Central team to assess the losses suffered by the people so that the affected people are rehabilitated at the earliest.

Appreciating the Government of India, particularly the Prime Minister, for the magnanimous approach in sanctioning an additional assistance of Rs 1,000 crore to the state, the CCI, Jammu, said this “tsunami” was unheard of on this “paradise on earth”.

“Although the Army and the paramilitary forces are doing a commendable job in rescuing people from the marooned areas but there is an undercurrent of resentment and anger among the people that enough boats and helicopter have not been pressed into service to evacuate the marooned families trapped in 10 to 15 feet deep water,” Arun Gupta, secretary general, CCI, Jammu, said in a representation sent to the Prime Minister.

Gupta said while the relief undertaken by the Central government was commendable for the marooned people of Srinagar, the government should not lose sight of the fact that besides south Kashmir, there were other areas of the state also that were affected by floods. The recent rains had caused havoc of no less magnitude in the districts of Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur, Ramban and Reasi.

“There is an undercurrent of resentment among the people as they feel that they are being discriminated against vis-a-vis people of Srinagar over the relief measures,” he said, adding that it was impossible to assess the actual losses till the water recedes.

Jammu, September 12
Samsung Electronics today donated Rs 3 crore to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to aid the relief operations in the flood-hit J&K.

“The Samsung team shares the concern of the people of India about the grim situation in J&K. The PM has declared the situation a national disaster and the need of the hour is for all of us to help in whatever way we can,” said BD Park, president and CEO, Samsung South West Asia. 

Ramban, September 12
Number of flood-affected people from the Kashmir valley today reached Ramban on foot.

“I along with my 19 other colleagues started off from Rambagh, Srinagar, yesterday morning on foot and reached Banihal today afternoon,” said Chand Lal Yadav, who hails from Bihar and was working as a mason in Srinagar.

We trekked most of the distance while at certain places we got the lift from truck drivers, he said.

“We trekked along the railway track, crossed the 9.5-km-long Banihal tunnel and then reached Hingni Nachlana via taxi. From there we trekked 4 km to bypass the 2.5 km damaged highway to reach Gangru in Ramsu. We then boarded state roadways buses and Army trucks to reach Ramban,” Yadav said.

Meanwhile, the local administration arranged for their forward journey to Jammu. The police were also deployed in significant numbers to manage the rush of flood-affected people pouring in Banihal.

“Now from here the state government has arranged private buses to take us to Jammu free of cost,” Yadav said.

Assistant Regional Transport Officer Swaran Singh said the district administration hired 70 buses for ferrying the flood-affected to Jammu.

The civil administration and the Army have also put up langars and medical camps for these people at Banihal, Ramsu and Ramban. The locals have also put up langars and charity collection camps for them at these places.

Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Sharma along with Inspector General of Police visited Ramban and took stock of the situation. Deputy Commissioner, Ramban, Farooq Ahmed Shah Bukhari was also present.

Leh, September 12
The entire Leh town wore a deserted look today as all commercial establishments downed their shutters to express solidarity with the people of the Kashmir valley who have lost their lives and belongings in the devastating floods.

A Ladakh bandh was observed this afternoon, which was called by the Ladakh Merchant Association (LMA).

Tsewang Rigzin, president of the association, said the decision of the bandh was taken at a joint meeting of all religious associations and the LMA.

Later, a candle march was held this evening to condole the loss of lives in the floods. Hundreds of people from all walks of life participated in the march, which started from Chokhang Vihara and culminated at the Polo Ground. It was organised jointly by the youth wing of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, Anjuman Moin-Ul Islam, Hindu Mahasabha Trust and Anjuman Imamia.

Meanwhile, Ladakh Festival, a tourist promotional event, which was to be held from September 20 to 26, has been cancelled in view of the devastating floods. The decision was taken today at a meeting of executive councillors and councillors of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh.

The meeting also observed a two-minute silence to express grief for the loss of lives in the Kashmir valley.

Tribune News Service
Manasbal (Bandipore), Sept 12“Even if I get threats, I am not afraid of militants and their diktats (against cooperating with the Army) because I have to help my people, who are in dire straits.” These were the words of a young student of a pre-university course, Abid Rashid Malik of Safapora, who has donned the role of a translator at an Army medical camp in north Kashmir.

He has been contributing his bit by translating Kashmiri language into Hindi for doctors and then translating Hindi into Kashmiri for patients. Bandipore was one of the hotbeds of militancy during 1990s when insurgency was at its peak.

The Army has set up medical and relief camps in Manasbal here, 28 km from Srinagar. Abid, who volunteered to offer his services to the Army, has been of great help to people of his area and doctors.

“In a scenario where my people are in such a miserable condition, I am least bothered about militants. There is no fear in my mind,” he said. “I wanted to help my people in whatever way I can and being literate enough to translate Kashmiri into Hindi and vice-versa, I offered my services to the Army and they readily conceded to my request,” he added.

The Tribune team found this young man sitting next to a lady doctor of the Army, Captain Nikita Sharma.

Initially, it appeared that the young man was also a patient. However, when he started explaining ailments of patients in Hindi to Captain Nikita Sharma and then getting back to patients explaining them in Kashmiri as to what medicines to take and precautions, it was clear that this man was contributing his bit.

“He has been of great help to us as we don’t know Kashmiri language,” said Captain Nikita Sharma.

He has made our job much easier as we can now understand the patients’ problems properly, she said.

The doctor, who largely deals with women patients coming to the camp, informed that people were mentally stressed out due to th flashfloods.

“A majority of them are mentally stressed out. Cases of cold, fever and body ache are also coming to us,” she added.

Srinagar, September 12
The Army today provided six digital satellite public telephones (DSPTs), 20 international maritime satellite (INMAR) phones and its own cellular network equipment to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for better coordination between the civil administration and other rescue agencies involved in the mammoth task of providing help to flood-hit people in the Valley.

This would ensure better coordination with the civil administration in various operations, an Army officer said. The state administration has been finding it hard to reach out to its own officials and people as well because flash floods have damaged the entire communication infrastructure.

After restoring the phone network, the state government has a gigantic task of restoring electricity supply in Kashmir.

The entire electricity infrastructure has also suffered a huge damage in the flash floods.

The officer said the Army has also been airlifting equipment and men from BSNL, Aircel and Airtel cellular companies to restore their infrastructure in Kashmir.

With no electricity in Kashmir, especially in Srinagar city, the Army has been carrying out its operations with the help of diesel generator sets.

Jammu, September 12
Airtel says it has been working round the clock with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the local authorities to restore connectivity by setting up five Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) to create public Wi-Fi hot spots in Srinagar.

The company further claimed that it has set up Public Call Offices (PCOs) in Poonch facilitating free calls for everyone 24X7.

"As the situation in J&K continues to remain grim, enabling seamless connectivity for easy communication with loved ones remains our priority. We at Airtel continue to work round the clock with the local authorities and DoT to restore connectivity across the state," a statement from Airtel claimed. Airtel has started free calling facility for 60 minutes per day to all its customers in Kashmir for the next five days.

Rajouri, September 12
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) here today directed all the health officers to be present at the health centres situated in flood-hit areas of the district.

The instructions followed the directive from the Director, Health Service, Dr RAjiv Sharma.

A medical team was formed under the supervision of Dr Iqbal Malik, Block Medical Officer (BMO), Darhal, which visited different health institutes in Thanamandi and Darhal tehsils and conducted awareness camps.

Malik directed all the employees to remain present round-the-clock, especially at Community Health Centres.

Later the team conducted a medical camp was organised at Azmatabad sub centre and chlorine tablets, ORS and other emergency medicines were distributes among the patients.

The BMO also instructed the heads of all the health institutions to submit daily report of patients.

Malik along with Chief Health Officer, Thanamandi, Mohd Farooq Mir also delivered lectures on health and hygiene at different places.

The BMO said the awareness programme would continue for next few days.

Jammu, September 12
The management of Dulhasti Power Station, NHPC Limited, has cautioned the public of Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban districts against going near the Chenab river from 10 pm on September 13 to 12 am on September 14 as the gates of the Dulhasti Power Station dam would be opened for periodical reservoir flushing. During this period, the water level may rise temporarily.

Therefore, people have been asked to refrain from going near the banks on foot or in vehicles to avoid any mishap. The management said anybody violating the request would be doing so at his own risk and it would not be responsible for the consequences. — TNS

Jammu, September 12
The joint forum of Kashmiri Pandit (KP) organisations expressed its dismay at the move of the British parliament holding a discussion on the Kashmir issue.

The forum held a meeting, which was attended by Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, president, Panun Kashmir, HN Jattu, president, AIKPC, and others. The meeting discussed the current political scenario.

“The move sponsored by a few members of the UK parliament is unfortunate in the light of the tragedy that has befallen Kashmir. At a time when the entire country has braced itself to provide succour and support to the flood-hit population of Jammu and Kashmir, the move of the British parliament is absolutely uncalled for and smacks of ulterior motives,” said Ashwani Chrangoo.

He alleged that the move is apparently at the behest of the Pakistan lobby, directed by the ISI, to divert the attention of the world from the pathetic socio-political conditions of the world. The civilised world at the moment is confronted with the challenges of the ISIS and Islamic insurgency in many parts of Britain and other western countries. The reported move would encourage Pakistan, which has emerged as the epicenter of global terrorism.

“We appeal to the British parliament and the government to refrain from such uncalled for moves that have the potential to encourage violence, fundamentalism and secessionism in Kashmir and particularly on the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy,” Chrangoo said.

The exemplary contributions of the Indian security forces in rescuing people and providing them the life- saving support needs to be complimented, he said.

Jammu, September 12
To ensure proper disposal of sewage in the Gandhi Nagar area, Minister for Housing Raman Bhalla has said the state government has submitted a proposal for a project involving Rs 500 crore to the Central Public Health Engineering Department.

This was stated by the minister while interacting with representatives of Grant Thorntan Private Limited and Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED) officials after inspecting the ongoing restoration work of nullah embankments at Rohi Morh, upstream area of the Landoi Choi Nullah at Chatha, here today.

Bhalla asked the Grant Thorntan Pvt Ltd to complete the survey of all the pockets of the Gandhi Nagar constituency within two months so that the project could be started for the convenience of the general people. He said the sewer network for the entire Gandhi Nagar would be laid in a phased manner to address the sewage problem of the people, which is being discharged into open surface resulting in pollution and health hazards.

Regarding the repair of damaged nullahs of Rajeev Nagar, Gorkha Nagar, Bhour Camp, Dilli, Grwater Kailash, Sainik Colony, Shanker Nagar, Landoi Choi, Roop Nagar, Digiana Ashram, Sheikh Nagar, Sri Vihar, Lower Gaddigarh, Malik Market and Nanak Nagar, the minister asked the UEED to immediately start temporary or permanent restoration projects so that any further loss caused due to flash floods could be avoided in the areas.

Jammu, September 12
Various posts in the State Health Society, under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), will now be filled through hiring on the contract basis initially for one year and the contracts will be renewed on annual basis, subject to review of the performance of the employees by the Mission Director, NRHM.

This was informed in the recently held executive committee meeting of the State Health Society, NRHM, J&K, under the chairmanship of the Commissioner/Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department.

Sources claimed that the Mission Director informed that based on the performance review of the contractual staff, the renewal of the contracts of 44 officials was recommended by the authorities concerned. Whereas the contracts of two officials, whose performance has been reported to be “unsatisfactory” by the Programme Managers concerned, were not renewed.

The sources claimed that the Director (P&S) was asked to put up the detailed report on the representation made by one of the officials whose contract was not renewed during the meeting and it was also examined by the executive committee.

The sources said the committee warned both the officials to improve their work and conduct. However, their contract was renewed for the current financial year.

“The state programme management unit will develop a qualitative bench mark for reviewing the performance of all the employees of the NRHM. It has also been decided to streamline the qualification of staff to be hired under various Centrally sponsored schemes in the Health Department,” an NRHM statement claimed.

“The Mission Director, NRHM, informed that the document prepared for streamlining the qualification, experience, etc, of the employees was approved by the executive committee and based on that the hike in remuneration was proposed in the SPIP of the NRHM for the year 2014-15,” it added.

The sources said it was proposed by the Mission Director that the same approach may be adopted by the district health societies, Directorate of Health Services and government medical colleges, etc, for the selection of different categories of staff under the NRHM and various Centrally sponsored schemes in the Health Department. The executive committee, however, accorded approval to the proposal.