Kashmir floods: As water levels recede 4 lakh wait to be rescued

Water levels have started receding in Srinagar and telecommunication has been restored in parts of the city after it faced the worst floods in decades.

Kashmiri people hold a man as he falls from a tractor evacuating flood victims to higher grounds, as they move through a flooded street in Srinagar. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Water levels have started receding in Srinagar, one of the worst hit by the deluge, facilitating rescue workers to pluck out another 29,000 persons to safety but four lakh people were on Wednesday still waiting for help in the flood-ravaged Kashmir Valley.

Complete coverage: Flood fury in Kashmir

Scaling up rescue work, the army and Indian Air Force have deployed 329 columns and 79 aircraft and helicopters to evacuate those stranded and provide food and medicines.

"A massive rescue and relief operation by the Indian armed forces is continuing on a war footing in Jammu and Kashmir with over 76,500 persons rescued so far by the armed forces and National Disaster Response Force in different regions of the statem" Col G D Goswami, public relations officer, defence said.

A migrant worker holds her son as she waits with others outside the airport to leave the flooded Srinagar. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

"Seventy nine transport aircraft and helicopters of the Indian Air Force and Army Aviation Corp have been pressed into service. The army has deployed 329 columns of its personnel for rescue and relief operations, in which 244 columns deployed in Srinagar region and 85 columns in Jammu region", he said.

In general the water level is receding but areas downstream of Jhelum River are experiencing increase in water levels, he said. "In Srinagar town there is a decrease in water level by three to four feet since the beginning of the floods, whereas there is a rise of six inches in Wuller Lake. Manasbal Lake saw a reduction by three inches bringing the water level to 18.3 feet, which is still 4.3 feet above danger mark," the PRO said.

People wade through a flooded street as they move towards a higher ground in Srinagar. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Srinagar town remains the most critical part of the flood hit areas. "All those areas where it was not possible to reach earlier remain the focus of the rescue mission" he stressed and added that the areas of Rajbag, Jawahar Nagar, Gogji Bag and Shivpora where the bulk of the stranded people are located saw major effort for evacuation.

While greater desperation was seen in areas which are on the outer fringes, people in the interiors of these colonies are displaying a great sense of responsibility and directing the rescue teams to those people who are worse affected.

Many camps of the army located in South Kashmir and Srinagar have also been flooded and over 1,000 army personnel and families are stranded without food and water. Water, electricity, supplies and other services have been hit within the cantonments.

Authorities were also trying to fix telecommunication links snapped since Sunday afternoon on a war footing and hope to restore it in a phased manner.

As the miseries faced by people -- some of them perched on rooftops -- in the worst floods to hit Jammu and Kashmir in six decades unfolded, the death toll in the floods, landslides and house collapses triggered by torrential monsoon rains since Tuesday last was stated to be around 200.

Indian Army soldiers build a temporary bridge across the river Tawi, near the existing bridge which was swept away by floodwaters from the river Tawi, on the outskirts of Jammu. Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters

In an endeavour to provide speedy medical aid to the affected populace, 80 medical teams of the armed forces medical services have also swung into action.

The army has distributed 8,200 blankets and 650 tents, 1,50,000 litres of water, 2.6 tonne of biscuit, 7 tonne baby food and 28,000 food packets in the flood-affected areas.

Additional water bottles are being airlifted from Chandigarh and Delhi, he said.

More relief material including 2,000 hospital bedsheets, blankets and tents, water bottles and cooked food are being airlifted on Wednesday. So far 613 sorties have been undertaken by helicopters and aircraft of Armed Forces and 715 tonnes of relief material has been dropped by the Indian Air Force, he said.

One hundred and thirty five army boats and 148 NDRF's inflatable boats are actively involved in the rescue operation. To restore road connectivity, five task forces of Border Roads Organisation, which include 5700 personnel, have been pressed into service.

As of now, road connectivity has been restored between Batote–Kishtwar and Kishtwar-Sinthan Pass. Work between Sinthan Pass and Anantnag is in progress and the Jammu-Poonch road has been cleared for traffic.

Fifteen engineering task force teams along with boats and other life-saving equipment have already reached the flood affected areas to supplement the rescue operation, Goswami said.

Army rescue teams, during the course of evacuation are also interacting with the stranded persons, assuring them that they are comparatively in safer places.

Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag is scheduled to visit the city on Wednesday to review the flood situation and take stock of the rescue and relief operations by the armed forces in the flood-ravaged Kashmir Valley.