Parvez Majeed a Srinagar based young journalist, who is doubling as volunteer, helping flood affected

As most of Srinagar city is inundated and cut off, it is return of medieval periods with no communication links. There is no end to the plight of the victims of the unprecedented  floods . Hordes of people are running from pillar to post in search of food and shelter. The three kilometre stretch of the bypass road between Tangpura and Lasjan, on the outskirts of Srinagar is where the people are being rescued.

The scenario at the rescue camp is worse, people come in search of their relatives and some leave dejected. Former director of Doordarshan Rafiq Masoodi is also missing, his family members visit the camp regularly. Former chief secretary Mehmood-ur-Rahman has been desperately looking for his 92-year old father-in-law, who was rescued form Rajbagh, but is not to be found anywhere.

On third consecutive day on Wednesday, one could see the poignant scenes of crying women and horrified children desperately wanting  drinking water . Volunteers are struggling to provide water and food. Some 400 water filtration plants have been washed away or rendered defunct.

The packaged drinking water stocks in the shops and stores have already exhausted. At rescue camps drinking water is the most precious thing to possess. Some distance away a boat of National disaster  Response Force (NDRF) was ambushed by some miscreants, and looted water bottles, it was carrying to other areas.

At temporary relief centres established by people, voluntarily at Nowgam Chowk bus stop, people are struggling to get food packets. The queues are getting longer by every minute. Full credit to volunteers who are supporting the survivors whom they rescued from submerged localities during these three days.

I am appalled to see no one from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is carrying out the rescue operations. It is the young locals who have used all ingenuity at their command, to make temporary boats from tyre tube, plastic water tanks and wooden planks to rescue people from inundated houses. Only at Hyderpora bypass Airport road, I saw a government truck carrying evacuated people from Tangpura, Batmaloo to Hyderpura flyover.

Luckily, the locality of Chhanapura, where I Live, is among the very few Srinagar localities, where houses did not submerged. But we are facing connectivity issue, as the roads are submerged. It is the fifth day on trot, I have not taken bath. I along with my neighbour go out with water, biscuit and bread and hand it over to relief volunteers at Gudwara and Sanat Nagar Community  Centre, Lasjan and Nowgam Chowk. I rush back home as fast as I can to be with my landline phone which miraculously works.

As my neighbour’s car today ran out of fuel, we now cover distances on foot. In fact non availability of fuel is hampering volunteers to rescue and provide relief. Since Monday, helicopters are making countless sorties over Srinagar skyline. Nobody knows what they are doing. Most of the survivors whom I met are very angry at what they call `Absence of the government from the tragedy’.  Ajit Singh Bali of Mehjar Nagar, who is sheltered at Shahid Baga gurdwara said, “I was not rescued by any helicopters or any government rescue team. My two youth neighbours Ashraf and Idrees were the ones who rescued me from my flooded house, after three days.”

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> News> India / by Parvez Majeed / Thursday – September 11th, 2014