48,000 people moved to safety, 4 lakh still marooned in Valley
Taking advantage of improving weather conditions and receding water levels in flood-affected areas of Srinagar city, the Indian Army, IAF and NDRF teams intensified their efforts on Tuesday to reach out to save each and every marooned person. So far, around 48,000 people have been rescued and given shelter by the Army, while over 4 lakh people still remain trapped in flood waters across Kashmir Valley.
The Indian Army has also started publishing a list of rescued people staying in their camps to ease the tension of their loved ones. An Ambassador of Nepal with a 17-member delegation and a 28-member Pakistani golf team (part of SAARC team) were also evacuated by rescue teams. Due to fair weather conditions the Army was also able to access areas in South Kashmir, which largely remained cut off due to dangerously high levels of water along the road network for the past couple of days.
To restore snapped communication lines, engineers of the Indian Army, BSNl and private telecom operators are working overtime to allow distressed relatives to establish contact with their loved ones. The Army has pressed into service more than 1 lakh men equipped with 170 boats to evacuate the marooned residents of Kashmir Valley.
As many as 50 additional boats were flown in on Tuesday from areas as far as Punjab and Rajasthan to reach out to the people stuck in Srinagar before it is too late. In Srinagar, Army columns concentrated their efforts to cover Rajbagh, Shivpura, Indira Nagar, Bemina, Gobji Bagh, Karan Nagar and Tankpura, that are some of the worst-affected areas so far.
According to reports, most of the patients from GB Pant Hospital have been moved out, but there are over 100 employees and attendants of patients who are yet to be taken out. Areas adjoining Batwara and GB Pant Hospital have been cleared of people, however, efforts an still on in Shivpora area, official sources said.
On Tuesday, when the water levels in Dal lake started rising, students from the National Institute of Technology took refuge in Kashmir University campus. Various other State Government buildings in safe zones were converted into relief camps by the local people as the State Government machinery failed to get its act together.
Meanwhile, in the absence of an effective State machinery, local volunteers have teamed up to provide food and water to the affected population in areas where rescue teams are yet to arrive.
Ministry of Defence spokesman Col SD Goswami said: “So far 451 sorties have been undertaken by the helicopters and aircraft of Indian Air Force and 563 tons of relief materials airdropped.”
Altogether, 61 aircraft and helicopters have been pressed into action. According to Goswami, 135 Army boats and148 inflatable boats of the NDRF are actively involved in the rescue operation. He said in order to quench the thirst of the affected population additional water bottles are being airlifted from Chandigarh and Delhi.
In order to meet the shortage of food in the flood-affected area, cooked food, including biscuits are being sent from Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad on a large scale. Deployment of medical teams has increased from 65 to 80 in Jammu & Kashmir, to extend medical help to the needy population especially children and senior citizens.
The Army will set up a Field Hospital in Srinagar and is in the process of mobilizing essential supplies such as ‘Ready to Eat Meals’, packed milk, blankets, potable water, baby food etc. Throughout the day control rooms were flooded with SOS messages to evacuate those still waiting for rescue teams.