JK road, telecom network to be restored in 3-5 days: Centre

Restoration of road and telecommunication network in the KashmirValley, ravaged by floods, will take three to five days. The Centre has directed free flow of transport via Manali and Leh to Srinagar, the only available surface network, a top central government official said on Monday.

The home ministry is also airlifting thousands of bottles of drinking water and blankets to Jammu and Kashmir to be distributed among the flood-affected people as there is shortage of potable water and woollens.

"As nights are getting colder in Kashmir valley, we are urgently arranging blankets and airlifting them to Srinagar. There is crisis of drinking water too. So, we are sending thousands of bottled water beginning today for next four-five days," the official said.

The three highways connecting Kashmir with Jammu have been damaged badly and the Border Roads Organisation has assessed the damage and conveyed that it will take at least five to seven days for their restoration, the official said.

Works are going on war-footing for restoration of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited telecommunication network which is expected to be normal in next three days.

Facing problems of connecting even top state government officials, the Centre has dispatched 15 high frequency wireless sets to Srinagar today and is expecting that the

wireless service will be restored by Monday night. A 10-member team of central government officials, headed by joint secretary (disaster management) in the union home ministry G V V Sarma, is camping in Srinagar and coordinating rescue and relief operations with all concerned.

A joint secretary of the union health ministry will join the central team on Monday night while a joint secretary from the department of expenditure (union ministry of finance) and another Joint Secretary from the Planning Commission will reach Srinagar on Tuesday to offer help and coordination to those involve in flood relief operations.

The government is also making effort for the restoration of the power connection in Kashmir valley and deploying people for the task. Though there is no scarcity of petrol and diesel so far, at least 50 pumps -- out of 78 pumps in the valley -- are under flood water.

The authorities are also planning to deploy heavy duty pumps to drain out flood water in some of the low lying areas in Srinagar city. The official said that air connectivity to Srinagar and Jammu are normal while train lines up to Udhampur is expected to be operationalised by this evening and up to Katra by Tuesday

The army, the air force, the National Disaster Response Force and state agencies have so far rescued more than 25,000 people and lodged them in higher places in the valley.

Out of 150 people who lost their lives in the floods in the state, 130 are from Jammu while the rest belong to Kashmir valley. "More deaths in Jammu region because of flash floods and landslides. In the vally, water level rises slowly hence there are less casualties," the official said.