EYES FILLED WITH GRIEF; STILL HOPEFUL…THE WORST KASHMIR COULD FACE…NEARLY 90% DEVASTATED

19-9-2014 2.50PM IST

Medhaj News: Kashmir saw the worst it could have in the ages. More than 250 are already dead; children are crying for food, women wailing over the loss of their newly-born. I see a man in a picture wearing ragged clothes looking for something in distress, his eyes filled with grief. An old woman, sitting on the edge of a Shikara, stares in the space, still hopeful, as it seems.

It’s been 11 days since Jhelum broke its banks and aguishly took villages in, wrecking havoc in several districts on either side of the Pir Panjal mountain range. According to Medhaj News sources in Kashmir, approximately 90% of Kashmir is devastated. Also, the relief items could not suffice the needs of people, despite the government and citizens trying hard.

The tourism has also been affected and Dal Lake looks like nothing but a swamp. The flood waters have receded, but the damage it has caused to the hotels, houseboats and the restaurants, and the slush and stink that it has left behind is a telling reminder of the damage caused to Kashmir's soul and its key tourism industry. Bridges, roads, hospitals and government buildings worth several thousand crores are destroyed by the floods while the damage to private property including crops like apple and paddy is estimated to be several times higher.

The floods have damaged almost everything and due to which communication has become a big concern. To cope up with the crisis, BSNL has distributed 5,000 free SIM cards in flood affected parts of the Kashmir valley without any ID proof to help people.

The validity of these SIMs will end next week. The calls will however be free till the end of this week.

However, Jammu and Kashmir Civil Secretariat in Srinagar reopened yesterday after being shut for 11 days. Very few employees reported to work at the scheduled opening time at the Secretariat.

Even when the floodwater has begun receding in Srinagar, many areas, including around the Civil Secretariat, are still waterlogged.

There are a million grievances from thousands of people, unheard. To many, the mainstream media seems to be more concerned about separatists than the sufferers. There are chances that an epidemic may arise.

As I was walking on the street this morning, I saw nearly 20 cows lying on the road and were dead. Government should take care of this or an epidemic can arise, said a Kashmiri resident.

But construction being a slow process, we can only hope that things will fall into place gradually. When hurricane Katrina had hit New Orleans, it took them years to rebuild the city.