Their thoughts are in the Valley

As if the border incursions and repeated curfews in Kashmir were not enough, nature’s backlash has made life there even worse!

The scenario there, in the aftermath of the floods, is being watched closely by the Kashmiris in the City.

Shahab, a Kashmiri student who is currently pursuing his diploma here, says he was present in Srinagar during the onset of rains. He adds that there should have been better disaster preparedness from the authorities.

“I was in Srinagar for a family gathering a week before the rains and reached Bangalore on the night of September 5. My uncle had called home to see if I was back safely but by 10.30 pm, he said that he had to keep the phone down due to an emergency. One of my families moved from their house to a hotel, which is in an elevated area, but soon, it was flooded too. So, they moved to an uncle’s house on a hill.” 

Shahab’s mom, Dilruba, says, “Rehabilitation should take place as soon as possible and help from the Central government should come faster because of the onset of winter. Each household consist of at least seven members who will need emergency supplies.” 

Adnan Javed, who is in charge of the collection of relief supplies, says that door-to-door collections are taking place everyday.

 “Our relief supplies mainly include medicines, sanitary supplies, blankets, baby food packs, biscuits, syringes and milk powder. Students go to Kashmir every alternate day and some flights transport these supplies to a centre in Srinagar by next day afternoon.” 

Muzafar, another engineering student in the City hasn’t been able to contact his family in Pulwama. “I’ve had no contact with them from last week because of the break-down of phone and electricity lines. We are visiting religious places and colleges to collect donations.” 

Shahab adds that the situation till Thursday was very tense as none of the phones were reachable. Both Shahab and Dilruba agree that though the Army is tirelessly working, they can do a lot more. Dilruba says, “There is only one chopper in service. Areas like Rajbagh and Rajouri are suffering severely.”  

Shahab says that the local mosques are trying to help those stranded in the Valley. “A lot of people are also part of a Facebook group called ‘Kashmir Rescue from Bangalore’. They meet up everyday and the list of drugs and food supplies are put up on the page.”

Dilruba adds that though there is an outpour of donations, distribution is taking place in a random manner. “Bangaloreans should join hands and all the collections should happen in one area so that when they reach Srinagar, the supplies can be distributed depending on the areas.” 

However, despite massive efforts, it is only a matter of time that reconstruction can occur. Dilruba rues, “As it is, the Valley is riddled with problems and this is unfair to a peace-loving state. It has just taken one week to wash off everyone’s hard work,” rues Dilruba. 

Fawad, a student currently pursuing his MSc Biotechnology at Indian Academy, says that his family was stranded in Ananthnag. “When I first heard about the floods, I thought that the situation wasn’t so bad. However, towards the evening, I was in for a shock. I couldn’t reach my parents for seven days and my relatives’ house broke down.”

He says that the Army is doing a commendable job but the State government has to intervene more into the situation. “It will take at least a year for life to come to normal.”