*Home Secy reaches Srinagar for coordination
Avtar Bhat/PTI
—Excelsior/Rakesh
SRINAGAR, Sept 11: The unprecedented flood situation in Valley has put normal life out of gear as pathetic and heart rendering scenes are witnessed every where with marooned people still crying for help even as Chief Minister today said 22 deaths have so far been confirmed in the floods.
The situation is worst in most parts of Capital City Srinagar where though water level has receded during last two days, some areas are yet under eight to 10 feet water while river Jehlum is still running above danger mark.
Many roads including Srinagar -Jammu National Highway is still under water and many link roads linking the various parts of city with Srinagar and other district headquarters are also submerged.
Though Army, Indian Air Force and other security agencies are doing a yeoman’s service and continue shifting marooned and stranded people to safer places and makeshift relief camps at different parts of the Valley and air dropping food items to marooned people yet there needs more help in evicting the people to safer places and providing food items to them.
Heart rendering scenes were witnessed at different places in the Capital city here when Indian Air Force jawans air dropped food items in different parts of marooned areas in Srinagar city and down town areas this afternoon.
The marooned people whose houses are submerged in five to six feet water and who were facing starvation as all the eatables were perished stocked by them in their houses in flood water were seen by this correspondent rushing like mad people at the site of Air Force chopper to collect food items and satisfy their hunger.
Small children who had come on roof tops of their houses were seen in Eidgah area crying and pointing towards the crew to come towards their house and drop food items for them. This was really a heart -rendering scene as people would have never imagined that nature will turn so cruel towards them.
The Indian Air Force Chopper dropped packets of food items in marooned areas of Eidgah, Batmaloo, Habbakadal and Nallahmar road.
The two local MLAs of these constituencies including Speaker Mubarak Gul and MLA Shamima Firdose guided the IAF jawans the locations where the food items are to be dropped.
However at two places the food items were dropped in water as entire area in Eidgah and Habbakadal was under water and people jumped in four feet water to collect the same.
The sight of the chopper was bringing a hope for these people who have seen death closely and were starved for days together now. The people have all praise for forces as they kept their hope of survival alive.
Though forces are leaving no stone unturned in evicting people to safer places but in various areas they don’t want to leave their houses in view of thefts and burglaries which were reported from abandoned houses during last few days.
In some areas while people themselves have also mustered courage and worked shoulder to shoulder with forces in evicting marooned people, some anti social elements taking advantage of the situation have started looting the abandoned houses.
With this apprehension many people want to die in their houses but not to leave them and shift to makeshift camps installed by Army. This is the main problem for authorities in shifting the marooned people to safer places.
Moreover the black marketers, boatmen and some small transporters have the field day. As the boatmen charge thousands of rupees from people to shift them to safer places , the transporters also charge the exorbitant rates.
When a sumo operator who charged Rs 400 per passenger from airport to Anantnag was asked why he is demanding such a hefty amount said that he purchased one liter of petrol for Rs110.
As civil administration has been totally paralysed in Valley an electric engineer was charged Rs 70,000 by boatman while shifting him in marooned area of city to Batmaloo which was only a distance of five kms. Another family was charged Rs 20,000 for the same distance for shifting their child who was trapped in flood waters.
There is no coordination in State Government agencies while the entire relief and rescue operations are supervised by Army and IAF. The Chief Minister , Omar Abdullah, his Cabinet colleagues including Abdul Rahim Rather, Ali Mohammed Sagar, Mohammed Akbar Lone, Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo, Speaker Mubarak Gul and Shamima Firdose MLA besides some bureaucrats and senior police officers including DGP, K Rajendra and Additional DGP S M Sahai were on the technical airport for the maximum time today to take stock of the situation.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said that in view of unprecedented situation created by floods in Valley, the Government will change calander of examinations of the students in view of the concern expressed by their parents.
Talking to media persons at Technical Airport here, the Chief Minister assured the people who are worried about the education of their children that examination schedule will be changed.
Omar said that school children have suffered due to the heavy floods and their parents are concerned about the carrier of their wards so Government assures them that due care will be taken in this regard.
Expressing his serious concern over the havoc created by floods in the State he said that people have suffered a lot of damage and about 22 people have lost their lives in Kashmir valley while many more people died in Jammu region, he said Government will provide six months free ration to the people.
Abdullah however cautioned the people against the rumour mongers, who are creating panic among the people about the deaths by floods in Kashmir valley. Only 20 to 22 people have died in these floods in Valley and not thousands, he added.
He said that the State Government now needs dewatering pumps to drain out the water from marooned areas and utensils kitchen sets and blankets for the people. He said till the road network is restored in Valley, the chopper service for dropping the food material will continue.
The Chief Minister said water level is considerably decreasing and after every 12 hours 2 feet water level gets down in the Srinagar, still Jhelum river runs over danger mark. He said soon after road network is restored the relief material will be sent to people in trucks and tractors.
Justifying the anger of people in those areas where relief material has not reached, Omar said “we are duety bound to send relief to every area otherwise people will be angry”.
He said NDRF, Army, air force are working in complete cordination and stressed State needed lot of help still. He also lauded the Union Government and other State Governments for extending total help to State at this hour of distress.
The Chief Minister, however regreted the attack on relief distribution parties by some vested elements and said these people do not want that situation should normalise in Valley and sought corporation of all in distribution of relief.
A photographer Shafat Siddiqui working with a national Hindi daily has also died in the floods.
About, 20 per cent of the water supply has been restored in Kashmir and efforts are being made on war footing to restore communication links, both physical and telecom, in the Valley which is witnessing the worst floods in a century.
Jammu and Kashmir administration has ordered all Government employees to report to duty by this evening so that efforts can be ramped up to salvage the situation.
“Twenty per cent of the water supply has been restored and telecom services have been restored partially. Efforts are on to clear the roads,” sources said.
Water supply has been severely affected in half of Kashmir.
In a bid to step up relief operations, the administration has ordered all State Government employees to report to duty by this evening.
Sources that all deposits of account holders in the Jammu and Kashmir Bank are safe.
Giving an overview of the extent of damage after floods struck the Valley, sources said out of the 12 districts of Kashmir, eight were affected either fully or partially affecting 20 lakh people. Four of the districts were cut off.
The floods resulted in damage of 50 bridges and 170 km of roads.
At least 45,000 people have been evacuated either by air or boats by rescuers. At least 5000 people, mostly belonging to other States, have been airlifted out of the flood ravaged State.
The authorities have set up 150 relief camps where one lakh people have taken shelter even as 200 tonnes of relief material has been supplied so far.
Sources said the first priority is to rescue the marooned people. It is a collective effort to salvage the situation in which the NDRF has a key role.
They said the administration is working hard to restore normalcy and the help of the community has also been sought. He also pointed out that more relief supplies are required to give solace to the flood-affected people.
In the wake of allegations of tardy pace in rescue and relief measures, Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami today rushed to Srinagar to coordinate these operations in Jammu and Kashmir, hit by massive floods.
Goswami reached Srinagar a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed that total support be provided to the State Government to deal with the natural calamity.
A team of officers led by the Home Secretary left for Srinagar to coordinate relief and rescue operations.
Goswami, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, is expected to guide the Central and State Government’s efforts for rescue and relief measures for lakhs of people who are still stranded in many flood-affected areas in the Valley, the official said.
As the Army stepped up rescue operations in the flood ravaged Kashmir Valley, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has airlifted aviation fuel (ATF) to Srinagar to aid air sorties to the marooned Valley.
Indian Army has swarmed jets, choppers and boats to rescue more than 82,000 people so far after a week of rain caused riverbanks to burst.
“While the Army has been on the forefront, we have been operating in the background. We have ensured that their operations are not affected because of lack of fuel. Our fuel bunker at Srinagar airport, from where rescue air sorties are taking place, has been being stocked with enough aviation fuel,” IOC Chairman B Ashok said in New Delhi.
Besides rescue operations by the Army, the airport is also operating civilian flights normally as IOC continues to provide them with jet fuel.
To replenish stocks, ATF is being airlifted with the help of Indian Air Force from Ambala as truck movements are hampered due to flood waters cutting off roads links, he said.
Besides ATF, two truckloads of diesel too has been airlifted to the Valley yesterday and a similar number is being moved today to provide fuel to power gensets and other communication equipment which are down due to the floods.
“We are also moving products – petrol, diesel, LPG (cooking gas) and kerosene from Leh and Kargil… 400 trucks filled with fuel are waiting to enter the valley as and when an alternate road route is opened,” he said.
While fuel availability is not a problem, dispensing could be, as more than half of the 78 petrol pumps in Srinagar are marooned and the extent of damage caused by floods is not clear.
“As many as 30 pumps are dry and can operate as and when road route opens up and fuel tankers enter Srinagar. Our LPG depot is fine and is stocked with supplies,” he said.
However, an LPG depot of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) is submerged in water while that of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) has been partially affected by the floods.
“Our officers are living out of the Srinagar aviation turbine fuel (ATF) bunker and LPG depot. In addition, we have also moved senior officers from Mumbai to coordinate rescue and relief operations with the defence and local administration,” Ashok said.
The oil companies, he said, had adequate stocks to meet defence and civilian needs but their supplies are being hampered by lack of road connectivity.
“We are not able to communicate with our officers because telecommunication links are down. We are sending chits notes with pilots to convey messages and instructions to our people at Srinagar,” he added.
The Government is moving LPG and other fuel supplies to marooned Kashmir valley using alternative routes, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said today in Delhi.
Fuel supplies have been restored in the Jammu region and efforts are on to move stocks into Srinagar.
“Some of the oil installations are under water… Road movement is hampered due to floods. But we are trying to reach fuel to the people of Kashmir through alternative routes,” he said at an Indian Oil Corp (IOC) function here.
Stating that the situation in Srinagar is “challenging”, he said 350 truck with petrol, diesel, cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene are lined up on roads leading to the Valley and will move in immediately once the roads become motorable.
Also, trucks are being sent from Leh and Kargil.
“We are ready but we are not able to reach (the valley). We have enough stocks but the problem is roads,” he said.
He said relief and rescue operations are being monitored on a daily basis in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Central Government will do everything possible to help people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Yesterday after the Cabinet meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi called a review meeting to take stock of the situation in J&K,” he said.
Pradhan said 50 trucks carrying fuel have already been positioned on the Srinagar-Jammu highway and will move in as soon as road traffic is restored.
The Army has deployed more than 30,000 troops in the relief operations while the IAF has pressed 80 aircraft in action including the C-17 transport aircraft along with helicopters.
“In view of the continuing inaccessibility of Kashmir Division from Jammu through the arterial national highway (1A), alternative routes identified by the State and district administrations are being explored to expedite loads to the flood-affected areas.
Arrangements are being made for moving LPG cylinders in small vehicles through alternative routes till such time NH-1A is reopened for heavy vehicular traffic,” an IOC statement said.
As part of rescue supplies, over 50 loads of petrol and diesel and over 30 loads of LPG cylinders were dispatched to Kashmir Division by road through alternative routes on priority from as far as Kargil, Leh, Chandigarh, Jalandhar and Bahadurgarh in the last three days.
These loads are in addition to the many trucks stranded on the highways and major roads en route to Srinagar and Kargil, some of which are being diverted to the nearest accessible petrol pumps.
“Arrangements have been made for dispatch of more loads on a daily basis, depending on restoration of road connectivity with various parts of Kashmir Division, including Srinagar and Anantnag,” it said.
With many petrol pumps in the Kashmir valley rendered inoperable by flood waters, suppliers, vendors and contractors have been lined up for carrying out quick repair of equipment at these petrol pumps and restore supplies at the earliest.
“Teams from IOC’s aviation fuelling service are working round-the-clock at Srinagar, Jammu, Leh and Chandigarh airports as well as at Awantipur air force base to cater to the additional refuelling requirements of rescue operations undertaken by the Indian armed forces and the State administration,” the statement said.
Two tank-trucks with petrol and diesel loads each have been airlifted by IAF from Ambala for flood-relief operations in Srinagar. More are planned as per requirement. Priority supplies of diesel are being arranged for telecom operators to enable them to restore mobile communication services.
“The petroleum installations at Jammu, Kargil and Leh have adequate stocks of petrol, diesel and LPG to take care of any contingency, and are being continuously replenished from upcountry bulk storage locations. Petroleum installations in Srinagar also have adequate stock for release as and when road movement in the area is restored,” it added.
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