Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Sept 22: Over 2.34 lakh structures have been damaged, including 20,000 houses destroyed, excluding Srinagar district in floods that caused havoc in the State killing at least 280 people.
The State Government in its reply, before the Division Bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court comprising Chief Justice M M Kumar and Justice A M Magrey, today said: “Approximately 2, 34, 516 structures have been damaged, which includes nearly 20,000 completely damaged houses, excluding district Srinagar. The damages to the houses and other structures would become known only when the submerged areas are fully dewatered.”
The reply said that around 5411 villages excluding Srinagar district have been affected by floods across the State. “It would take some time to arrive at exact figures. The damages to houses and other structures would be known only when the submerged areas are fully dewatered. State Government is taking steps to assess the losses and therefore there is no question of formulating a Committee”, the reply said.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate Jehangir Iqbal Gania and Advocate G A Lone, alleged that the State Government did not provide timely relief to the flood affected people of the State.
The advocates through the PIL demand that relief to the flood victims be distributed in a systematic manner, losses should be assessed quickly and rehabilitation of flood victims be carried out on fast track basis.
The Assistant Solicitor General of India, Advocate S A Makroo, submitted before the Division bench that the Centre has declared the floods in the State as a national calamity and Central Government employees have been asked to remain shoulder to shoulder with flood victims.
The Government in its reply said it had established 224 relief camps across the State including 137 in Kashmir valley for the flood victims. “137 relief camps catering to more than one lakh people at various locations of the Kashmir valley and 87 such camps were set up in Jammu division. Most of these relief camps have been wound up with the improvement off the flood situation and return of the affected people to their own houses,” reads the reply.
The Government said an amount of Rs 430 crore, Rs 215 crore each for Jammu and Kashmir regions, was kept the at the disposal of respective Divisional Commissioners for meeting exigencies like exgratia relief and rehabilitation. “31000 quintals of rice have been distributed to various affected people free of cost from September 13 to 19. 14000 LPG cylinders were distributed in various parts of Srinagar while 10,000 litres of kerosene was distributed by CAPD Department,” the Government reply said.
The reply said while ration was distributed through mohalla committees in initial stages and now it has been taken over by the ration depots on the basis of records maintained by the Consumer Affairs and Public Distributions Department.
The Government said it has installed more than 200 pumps which are operational round the clock to ensure speedy dewatering in water-logged areas. “Government of India and some other State Governments have also made available some dewatering pumps which have been pressed into service,” it added.
The reply said that effective steps have been taken in time to lift the garbage and dispose off it to keep the city clean since the magnitude of the floods was huge and the damages are extensive. “It will take some time to free the city of the garbage”, the reply added.
The reply said that the effective steps have been taken to meet out the urgent requirements of affected people in Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Bandipora districts. “The assessment with regard to life and property in these districts is being done on war footing and rehabilitation process has been initiated”, the reply adds.
However, advocates Gania and Lone refuted the Government claims. They said that the status reports are not in tune with the situation as prevails at ground level. Court deferred the hearing till September 29 after it was informed by the State that a similar petition has been filed in the Supreme Court which is scheduled to be on September 24.
The reply of the Ministry of Home Affairs to the PIL says that more than 31,000 Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel rescued nearly three lakh people from flood affected areas of the State,
“Indian Army has deployed 30,000 troops along with 224 boats. As on September 20, 2.08 lakh persons have been rescued to safer places” says the MHA reply.
The reply said NDRF had deployed 22 teams, consisting 955 personnel along with 148 boats and 30 divers, for rescue operations and rescued 50,815 persons. “At present, 10 teams of NDRF are on standby in Kashmir. NDRF has established four camps in Srinagar and provided medical aid to 7000 flood victims,” the reply said.
The reply said CRPF personnel also evacuated nearly 28,000 persons to safety from various flood affected areas of Kashmir.
“Nearly 53,000 stranded passengers were airlifted by Indian Air Force from various locations while 28,000 people were evacuated from Srinagar to other parts of the country. Over 35,000 persons have been evacuated by civil airlines from Srinagar and Leh to Jammu and Delhi”, the reply said.
The reply said Railways also ferried over 52,000 persons from Udhampur and Jammu stations to various parts of the country. “The rescue operations have been terminated by the IAF, assistance ‘on call’ basis in desired time frame is still available. However, relief operations continue by the Army aviation wing. About 2,900 sorties have been carried out by IAF till September 20, 2014,” reply reveals.
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