Ghosts of Last Year’s Flood Continue to Haunt the Residents of J&K

People in J&K are still trying to come to terms with the losses from last year’s floods, writes Jehangir Ali.

A year after Srinagar sank in a devastating deluge, the signs of destruction strewn across Kashmir’s landscape have become a permanent feature as repeated announcements of providing aid by the state government and New Delhi never went beyond words.

The wait for any kind of substantial financial assistance from the government for flood victims or the rebuilding of ravaged public infrastructure continues.

While the entire economy of the valley was hit, the destruction was immense in some vital areas.

Ravaged Houses and Meagre Compensation

Manzoor Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar’s Kursoo locality, lost his job after the flood and is still waiting for compensation so that he can repair his damaged house. “The flood turned into an opportunity for the rich and the influential people. Poor people like us have been left in the lurch,” he said.

Last year’s flood damaged 2.65 lakh structures – 29,210 of them were damaged irreparably, as per an official report. In Srinagar alone 91,000 houses were damaged. A total of Rs 324 crore was given as compensation by the State to 2.50 lakh affected families. This meagre assistance has left people furious. For each fully damaged house, a family got Rs 75,000 as compensation and Rs 3800 was given for a partially damaged house.

As public rage mounted, the Government of India sanctioned Rs one lakh and Rs 35,000 for each fully damaged and partially damaged house respectively. But most of the families are yet to receive it.

Kashmir’s Backbone Fractured

Considered to be the mainstay of Kashmir’s economy, the horticulture industry suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore, leaving a devastating impact on growers.

The government had last year “considered” preparing a package for affected growers. However, the proposal received a silent burial. President, Fruit Growers’ Association, Bashir Ahmad, rues that the government fell back on its promise of extending the “fullest support” to them.

We have been left to fend for ourselves.
— Bashir Ahmad, President, Fruit Growers’ Association

Roads in Shambles

The floods dealt a severe blow to the state’s road connectivity with a report by the state’s Public Works Department revealing that 4,392 kilometres of road network, 272 bridges and 306 culverts and footbridges were damaged. The losses were estimated to be Rs 1,716.38 crore, an official said.

Hundreds of villages in the twin districts of Anantnag and Kulgam in south Kashmir still don’t have direct road access. In Chadoora town of Budgam, a 300-metre bridge connecting over 1,700 villages with Srinagar was completed after 15 years. The floods washed away a portion of the bridge which hasn’t been repaired.

Delay in the release of funds by New Delhi has been a major disappointment for the People’s Democratic Party, which shook hands with the BJP hoping the move would help it to secure additional funding. So far, only Rs 47 crore has come from New Delhi for the road sector.

Agriculture Badly Hit

Since the floods occurred before the onset of the harvesting season, almost half of the total food grains were damaged, resulting in an estimated loss of around Rs 3,674 crore. Last year, the production was 2.4 lakh metric tonnes.

Authorities at Kashmir’s Agriculture University have expressed concerns that the production may dip further this year pushing the food deficit towards 40 percent which would be the highest ever. The current highest is 34 percent in 2012.

Maimed Health Sector

Four of the top five hospitals in Srinagar remained shut for days after the flood water inundated almost 90 percent of the town, submerging the ground floors of these health facilities.

The losses incurred in the health sector due to the damage were around Rs 300 crore as per official estimates. In Srinagar’s oldest hospital, SMHS, the Oncology, Radiotherapy and Radiology departments, which were on the ground floor, bore the brunt.

The children hospital’s bed capacity was reduced to just 90 beds from 140 beds after the flood rendered its ground floor defunct.

An official said that out of the Rs 745 crore relief package announced by New Delhi last year, Rs 175 crore was allocated for the restoration of hospitals.

The private health sector too suffered the fury of the flood. In the Karan Nagar area of Srinagar, which houses all private clinics, the tale of destruction is still visible as most of the practitioners are yet to replace the defunct machinery for performing medical examinations like MRIs, CT Scans and digital X-rays.

“This area (Karan Nagar) had developed as a medical hub in Kashmir. Today, we can see the destruction,” said a doctor.

Damaged Schools

The September deluge shut down 2,594 schools – 686 schools were damaged irreparably and 1,908 schools were partially damaged. The state government had sought assistance of Rs 165 crore from the Ministry of Human Resource Development to undertake repairs and reconstruction in the sector.

The funds came but they were too little to address the gigantic problem.
— A senior official in Kashmir Directorate of School Education

In far flung villages of Anantnag, Kulgam and Bandipora districts, a majority of damaged schools have been abandoned. The students have either shifted to nearby schools or dropped out. “This is a major problem in the remote areas which have remained unnoticed,” said the official.

The previous government of Omar Abdullah had quoted Rs 44,000 crore of financial assistance to New Delhi for compensating flood victims and rebuilding damaged infrastructure. One year later, today, there is no word from the Centre.