Life still at standstill in flood-hit Jammu Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: Life continued to be at a standstill nine days after the flood devastated the summer capital of the territory following destruction of the South Kashmir districts causing major damage to life and property.

According to KMS, most roads of Srinagar continued to remain submerged under several feet of water and inaccessible on Sunday. The nerve centre of the city Lal Chowk is under chest high water that had started flowing into the area when Jhelum River breached its embankments at several places on the interim night of September 6-7.

The M.A. Road, Residency Road, Hari Singh High Street, Secretariat Road and other important roads in Lal Chowk are still submerged along with the houses and commercial structures in the locality.

The hub of media organisations Press Enclave too is under water making publication of newspapers impossible. In uptown, water continues to occupy the roads and localities at by-pass Bemina, Qamarwari, Iqbal Park, Jawahar Nagar and the adjoining areas. The reports said the residential areas at Rajbagh, Jawahar Nagar and adjoining areas are still under 10 to 12 feet of water.

The areas however continue to be cut off from rest of the city.

The fate of the most people who were in the areas when the devastation began is still unknown. Blocked roads and scarcity of fuel is affecting movement of the public and private vehicles in the city. Only a few buses could be seen plying on the accessible routes of the city while the private cars too are operated in case of emergency only.

“We don t have fuel to operate the buses,” said Khazir Mohammad, a bus driver from Hawal here. “Whatever little fuel we had in our vehicles is being used to run the buses so that people can move around. But if the fresh supply of fuel doesn’t arrive soon all transport will stop moving,” he added.

The public is forced to walk long distances to go looking for their loved ones of whom there has been no news since the flood hit the city.