Around 1,000 Kashmiris, who have lost everything in flood that created havoc in Jammu & Kashmir earlier this year, are taking shelter in Gujarat and getting help from localites.
The homeless Kashmiri families have come to the State to avoid cold wave that hit North India including Jammu & Kashmir. Most of them are staying in a makeshift camp near Ahmedabad Railway Station.
One of the Kashmiris, Sarfaraz Ahmed told The Pioneer that a group of nearly 1,000 people had taken shelter at a closed textile mill compound situated in Kalupur area of Ahmedabad. According to the 30-year-old Ahmed they had lost everything - homes and livelihood in floods and they came to Gujarat to save themselves from chilling winter of Kashmir, where mercury has fallen below zero degree Celsius.
“Back home in Kashmir we require kangdi, coal, at least 3-4 blankets and other warm clothing per person to survive in sub-zero temperature. Our houses were destroyed in flood. We left with nothing. We will stay here till the temperature would go up in Kashmir,” said the Kashmiris.
Majority of the flood affected Kashmiris arrived in Gujarat are from Baramulla which is located on the bank of the Jhelum River downstream from Srinagar. 39-year-old Shakila who is mother of three children said that most of the migrants are from poor families and have limited resources to subsist freezing cold old condition in their home state.
“We had no option but to shift to some relatively warm areas and unanimously decided to take shelter in Gujarat,” she said, adding that there are many children and elderly people in the camp. Women are taking care of them apart from cooking and some of the men have got odd jobs in the nearby fruit markets to earn some bucks, said another woman Fatima. According to her, many men are still in search of jobs to ensure home fire burning.
“It is very hard to get work in local market as we don’t know localities. The traders and fruit merchants are demanding guarantors. Since we are new to this place, there are very few who would take responsibility of unknown people,” said the refugees, adding that education of children, many of them orphaned, is also getting disturbed in the current situation.
The temporary migrants are praising local people who are helping them by providing food and clothes, especially to children and elderly people. Some people have donated rice and pulses to these refugees, which they are cooking.
“People from both the communities - Hindus as well as Muslims are helping us to survive. Several community organisations from both the religions have come forward to aid us,” said Sarfaraz. The Kashmiri refugees are eager to go back to their homeland and expecting that the J&K government would rebuild their lost houses by the arrival of summer.