SRI NAGAR – Flood waters are receding in Kashmir but anger and resentment are mounting over what is being seen as a slow rescue and relief effort, with hundreds of thousands of people still stranded.
In Srinagar, an angry mob stoned CM’s residence, close to the governor’s house another crowd didn’t allow helicopters to deliver food supplies while an NDRF jawan was attacked by locals waiting to be rescued.
“We want water and food. We will die here. Please ask IAF choppers to drop some food pockets here,” S Lala, stranded in Srinagar’s Hari Prabat Hill area, said.
The chief minister termed the situation in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir “serious” but hit out at critics who said his government was not doing enough.
“What can I do. I didn’t bring the rain, nor can I stop it. If I could, I would have done that,” an angry Omar told ANI.
An NDRF jawan was attacked by angry locals in Srinagar while few other personnel of the force were heckled while they were rendering relief and rescue operations in the flood-hit areas.
Officials said a National Disaster Response Force trooper received severe injuries on his hand when the locals attacked him.
The desperate situation saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking officials to provide all-possible support to the state government in scaling up rescue and relief operations.
Chairing a high-level emergency meeting in New Delhi to review relief operations late Wednesday, Modi also said essential commodities be made available at the earliest.
Though 32,500 people were evacuated — taking to 80,000 the number of people rescued in a continuing multi-agency effort — about five lakh people are still waiting help.
The state’s worst floods in 60 years have killed more than 200 people and the extent of damage is unclear even after a week. Once water levels drop, a more real picture will emerge of what chief minister Omar Abdullah has described as a “serious humanitarian crisis”.
