People demand immediate restoration of roads, power
Avtar Bhat
KATHUA, Aug 18: Witnessing a nightmarish experience during the wee hours of Sunday when the cloudburst struck the twin villages of Patyari in Janglote and Jodh in Ghati area of Kathua district, the victims of the natural calamity said that they had left all hopes of survival.
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“We were fast asleep when suddenly heavy rains lashed the area and there was thunder burst. People left their houses in panic and saw that water level had increased in the Khad and soon it washed away a portion of hillock and under its debris one residential house got damaged burying its two inmates -mother-daughter duo”, said Shakti Kumar Sharma, a resident of Bagra village of Janglote.
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He said the ill fated Parveen Kumar who lost his wife and daughter in the tragedy somehow fled away from the house while his wife tried to save her daughter and both were struck in landslide and died.
Narrating the tale, he said, “there was total panic in the village as people thought that nature has spell a doom for us. I have never seen such rainfall in my life. Within seconds, the 30 feet wide Nallah was turned into 300 feet wide river taking away everything which came its way, ” he added.
He said this afternoon panic gripped again in the area as it started raining heavily and villagers tried to shift families in vulnerable area for safety.
“Our elders who are above 80 years of age in the village told us that they had never seen such kind of rain and flood in their lives,” said Pawan Salathia, a former Ward member of the area. “Nobody had dreamt that 30 feet wide khad will become a 300 feet wide river. The flood waters washed away trees from upper area which damaged some houses in our village completely and some partially. Some cattle herd including goats and buffaloes which were tied in cowsheds died there and others were injured. This was a great catastrophe,” he added.
Pawan, whose house was also damaged in the flood, said the entire road to the village has been washed away disconnecting it to the district headquarter. The affected people are demanding that a JCB be deployed in the village to make a tractor road so that the people can visit the market to purchase some essential commodities for daily use.
The flash floods also damaged the tube well which was supplying water to the entire area. It was constructed four years back at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore, said Shakti Sharma. Besides, the water pipes, electric transformer, poles and wires were also washed away with the result, there is no power supply in the village for last three days, he added.
“We are without power supply and our inverters have also exhausted. For charging mobile phones, we have to visit the nearby villages so that we can talk to our relatives who are anxious for our welfare”, he added.
The villagers demanded that a crate work or a Pucca bundh be constructed along the both banks of the Khad to save the village from future tragedy.
They said the houses of Parveen Kumar, Yashpal Sharma, Vijay Sharma and Mohan Lal were damaged in the flood and landslides caused by cloudburst while 12 to 15 cows sheds were also damaged some fully and others partially. The villagers were scared as rains lashed the area this afternoon also.
Shakti Sharma said apprehending that rains may create any more eventuality, seven families which were near the Khad were shifted by villagers to other houses and school. He alleged that no support has come from administration so far to the affected people. Not to talk of compensation, even a biscuit was not provided by the authorities to the affected families whose entire household goods were washed away in flood.
Same is the story of villagers of Jodh Ghati area where five people were killed in yesterday’s cloudburst. The authorities have shifted the affected Gujjar families to some safer places in Kathua but the area is totally delinked from the rest of the district after the road to various villages in three Panchayats of Pandral , Ghati, Jathana have been totally damaged, said Vicky Sharma of adjoining Nagrota Panchayat.
He said the village comprised of two Mohallas, one is Manhas Mohalla and another is Gujjar Mohalla. While in Gujjar Mohalla, five people lost their lives and some houses were also damaged, in Manhas Mohalla there was no casualty but 16 to 17 residential houses were damaged by floods.
He said that Rs one lakh compensation announced by the Government for construction of house is meagre and it should pay adequate compensation to the affected people so that they can reconstruct their houses. He also demanded that the immediate steps be taken to restore the road connectivity and power supply in the area so that the people can go to market and also do their routine work.
Anita Rani of Manhas Mohalla said that it rained again today and people are in panic. She said a cloud in the sky will continue to haunt the villagers for rest of their lives as we witnessed a doom’s day during Sunday.
Anita, whose house was damaged, said four houses in their neighbourhood are totally damaged while others have also been partially damaged in the Mohalla. “Since yesterday we have taken refuge in neighbourhood as our all goods were washed away in floods and house was damaged,” she added.
Prem Nath Dogra, a senior BJP leader of Kathua said that floods have created havoc in border villages also where the crates of river Tarnah have been removed by mining mafia for illegal mining. He said Landhori, Mathura and Shaba Chak villages are facing grave threat. At Sabha Chak, the river has been divided into two parts and people apprehend worst.
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