It has been a year since the floods devastated the Valley, but people are still to come to terms with the destruction and damage that it left in its wake. Residents tell Khursheed Wani in Srinagar, that despite help from the administration, NGOs and volunteers, there is need to step up the relief measures before the winter chill sets in
On a misty September morning, teenage boys begin to come out from three makeshift tents that have been put up amid rubble of collapsed buildings. They have to wait for their turn to use a ramshackle washroom. Some of them go to the nearby dripping pipe to brush their teeth. Others take open bath under a tap hurriedly fixed in water supply line along the boundary wall of the premises. The boys then mechanically enter another tent, a makeshift kitchen, for breakfast. They return to their dormitory tent, put on uniforms, and board the bus for school.
There is a Kashmiri adage — khond ladas chu knond aasan patai (injuries follow after your toe is hurt). These teenagers are orphans, mostly victims of 25 years of turmoil in J&K. Hailing from far-off places like Kishtwar, Kupwara and Tral, they were boarding at Baitul Hilal, a three-storey building located at posh Jawahir Nagar locality of Srinagar till September 7, 2014. The orphanage managed by J&K Yateem Foundation, had adequate facilities for 50-odd boys. “It was our second home, rather our real home”, Salim Jaffer, a boy from Kishtwar says.
On that Sunday, the boys were preparing to have lunch. A donor from Kargil had arrived and as soon as the caretaker of the orphanage Bashir Ahmad Bhat began to write receipt for the donations, water came gushing and instantly began to flood the first floor. There was chaos. Everybody ran for shelter. In a few moments, the courtyard fencing began to crumble. The boys huddled in the first floor but in half an hour, water reached that floor as well and they moved to the top floor, not knowing what was in store for them.
The caretakers of the orphanage risked their lives to embark on a rescue mission and succeeded in salvaging the marooned boys, wardens, some neighbours and the donor. “We cried for help when the policemen came closer to our building in boats but they looked the other way,” Amir Ganai of Pulwama tells you.
The rescue was actually the beginning of a great ordeal that continues even after a year. The boys spent their first night at Soibugh in central district Budgam where they reached. The next two nights were spent at nearby Sangam village. They could have been lodged at a sister orphanage at Kulgam in south Kashmir but all routes to south were blocked by unprecedented flood’s in the Valley. On fourth day, they took a detour via Pulwama and Shopian where the boys settled. They spent the next four months, including a chilly winter, at Kulgam.
Back home, the Baitul Hilal remained submerged for more than three weeks. The 1971 building, originally constructed by one Triloki Nath Koul, developed cracks and crevices.
“It was difficult to shift the boys back to the building as it was declared unsafe. There was no alternative than to raze the building to ground”, Muhammad Rafiq lone, chairman of the foundation says.
But the boys, who were studying from Classes VI to X, had to be relocated for schooling and tuitions. In January, an international charity organisation donated three makeshift tents. They were fixed within the compound of the razed building. But the life would never be the same again for the boys. Every morning and night is a new challenge. They live in crammed space and sometimes feel suffocated, in not-so-spacious tents. Their clothes are not in order, nor are the books and belongings. They have to remain vigilant in case stray dogs enter if the tent is left open.
“We have managed to get thus far with a huge support from donors. But the response from the administration has been disappointing. Till date, no official has visited us. We didn’t receive any relief material. In fact, we set-up own camps for flood-affected people”, lone said. In order to construct a new building a whopping Rs10 crore is needed. We will soon lay the foundation stone. The donors have been very generous. This is a huge task we have undertaken. But it will be done and completed,” lone asserts.
From south Kashmir’s Kulgam district the ferocious Vaishaw nullah wreaked havoc and destroyed many buildings as if they never existed in villages like Arigatnoo, Kelam and Chamgund, to saffron-rich Pampore town. The once-bustling city of Srinagar, one of the oldest in the world, could have never imagined such large scale destruction.
Jawahir Nagar and its adjoining localities — Rajbagh, Mehjoor Nagar, Ikhrajpora, Natipora, and Padshahibagh were the worst hit by the September 2014 floods. A year later, the families are rebuilding their homes but each has a woeful tale to tell. The much-promised and hyped relief packages never arrived.
Therefore, on September 7, 2015 the first anniversary of the floods, entire Valley shutdown in protest against the official apathy towards the flood victims. The city is still struggling to regain its old glory. Its citizens are in a shock. There is dust, dirt and piles of rubble that has occupied every available space despite regular clearance. The floods left 200 dead in the State, and affect 12.5 lakh families.
The official estimate says that the flood damaged 3.5 lakh structures, mostly residential homes. Nearly 83,000 pucca houses and 21,162 kuccha houses were completed damaged while 1.5 lakh houses were partially damaged. Hence, it is not surprising that the home owners face problems a year later as well.
“We could only re-enter our homes three weeks after the flood hit our area only to see our house raised to the ground with adjoining building damaged. We spent a-year-and-a-half trying to clearing the rubble while living in a rented accommodation. Pooling our resources, we have now rebuilt our home and done repairs to the damaged ones,” Farooq Ahmad Khan, a resident of Jawahir Nagar tells you.
He is saddened that the administration failed to provide them with the much needed relief. “The relief never came to us. We ran from pillar to post trying to avail basic needs but they proved to be futile. Many of us have had to take huge loan just to reconstruct our houses. Building a house is a compulsion in the Valley. One can’t live and survive in tents during chilly winter nights,” he says.
However, it is not as if the administration failed to provide relief. The authorities did pay compensation cheques to the flood victims but the amount was too meager, not enough to even clear the debris let alone construct a single floor. Though the district administration in consultation with engineering department has set-up a data-base of the flood victims, even updated their bank account numbers, money is yet to be transferred to them. “We have made all the pre-requisite preparations. It is up to the Centre and State authorities to decide on the relief package,” a senior district official in Srinagar tells you.
In the mean time, it is the local volunteers, NGOs and insurance companies that have stepped in to help the deluged victims. Rescue work, providing relief and rehabilitation and settling claims, after the High Court and apex court directed them, began immediately. Around 42,000 claims worth Rs2,000 crore have been settled in the last one year making it one of the biggest claims in Asia.
When the floods hit the Valley, Omar Abdullah-led Congress-NC Government which was three months short of completing its six-year tenure was caught on the back foot when the floods came. For a week after the floods, there was total chaos. However, an assessment report on the damages suffered was made, he surveyed the flood-affected areas to assess the loss and a relief package of Rs44,000 crore was formulated. Till now, a total of Rs5,039 crore has been received by the State (at the time of filing of this story). The Rs1,000 crore was released as additional special plan assistance was strictly for restoration of damaged public infrastructure. Another Rs1,232 crore was specifically for restoration of damaged roads, procurement and repairs of medical equipment (major hospitals of Valley — lal Ded Maternity Hospital, SM Hari Singh Hospital, Bone and Joint Surgeries Hospital, SKIMS Medical college and GB Pant Children’s hospital) and restoration of tourism infrastructure.
Notwithstanding, the relief packages sought, a Civil Society group—Kashmir Centre for Social and Development Studies (KCSDS) has said that the loss and damage has been to the tune of Rs1 trillion. The group’s estimation is based on ground survey. According to the study — flood damaged 3 lakh houses and each house costs an average of Rs1 million in Kashmir. Going by that estimate, the loss to houses alone is around Rs30,000 crore. likewise, around 1,00,000 shops and commercial establishments were affected by the floods incurring a cumulative loss of Rs25,000 crore. The KCSDS estimates that 95,000 hectares of a total of 4.76 lakh hectare land with standing crops were affected. The loss is pegged at Rs2,000 crore.
The loss to the livestock, fisheries and floriculture was pegged at Rs500 crore, while the loss to the forests was put at Rs1,000 crore. The loss to the horticulture was put at Rs1,000 crore on the premise that of the total 3.5 lakh hectare, 52,500 hectare or 15 per cent of the land was affected. Another Rs40,500 crore loss was estimated to have occurred to the transport sector, public infrastructure and tourism.
But the official and un-official figures were contested by a team of World Bank (WB) experts. A joint team comprising representatives from the WB and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and led by Union Finance Ministry officials visited the State on October 21, 2014 to assess the situation. The visit was followed by a week-long comprehensive visit of a WB mission in February that assessed the actual affected areas.
Based on the expert analyses of the losses, the WB declared that the estimated losses were to the tune of Rs21,000 crore. It said J&K suffered losses worth Rs21,197.5 crore due to the devastating flood in September last year. The team, whose visit was aimed at recommending special WB loan for re-building infrastructure said that housing, livelihood, and roads and bridges, have suffered 70 per cent damage in terms of value. Following the survey, the WB sanctioned a loan of Rs1,500 crore to the State Government.
Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed speaking to his Cabinet colleagues on September 7, 2015 admitted that gaps existed in the entire rehabilitation process. “Rehabilitation of the flood-affected continues to be a work in progress, but there are still gaps in entire rehabilitation and reconstruction process which need to be filled at the earliest,” the Chief Minister was reported as saying.
He said the State Government has got down to a time-bound plan of action for providing relief to the uninsured flood-affected traders and destitute, to help them revive their livelihood. “Under the scheme, the shopkeepers whose turnover was up to Rs5 lakh are being provided Rs1 lakh compensation, while as those whose turnover is less than Rs10 lakh are given assistance of Rs1.5 lakh by the Government. The uninsured traders whose turnover was more than Rs10 lakh, are given cash assistance of Rs2 lakh,” he said and added that hundreds of other shopkeepers have already been compensation under the scheme and the process was on.
The Chief Minister has also said that the Government has initiated various measures including an assistance of Rs1,500 crore from the WB for flood management of major rivers. “In addition, Rs400 crore plan has been formulated for flood management along the Jhelum. Special focus is being laid on construction of an alternate flood channel from Dogripora to Wullar at a cost of Rs2,200 crore,” he said.
Earth Sciences experts warn that post-floods, Kashmir is very vulnerable because of the reduced carrying capacity of the Jhelum and its tributaries, weak flood protection infrastructure and higher groundwater levels. This is corroborated by three flood alerts issued this summer. Cloudbursts are a common occurrence taking a heavy toll on the tourism and Amarnath pilgrims.
“The carrying capacity of Jhelum is 35, 000 cusecs and that of the flood channel is 5,000 cusecs. Even if we dredge the entire Jhelum and flood channel, we might bring up its capacity to 50,000 and 10,000 cusecs respectively. How do we deal with a flood discharging 120,000 cusecsIJ So, we will have to identify the wetlands in the basin that need to be dredged, with least impacts on their ecological functionality, to restore their storage capacity”, Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, head department of Earth Sciences, Kashmir University was quoted as saying in a local daily.
“We should embark upon a massive dredging plan for the Wular lake to restore its flood storage capacity. We should explore the schemes that could help us to store 0.75 million acre feet of floodwaters in Jhelum tributaries as entitled under the Indus Water Treaty. With these measures, we shall be able to reduce our vulnerability,” Romshoo says.