J&K cut-off from rest of India, 'Marcos' sent in for rescue

It has been learnt, Large portions of Kashmir, including capital Srinagar, have been completely cut off since last night, with the worst floods in 60 years reportedly causing huge damage to the telecom infrastructure in the valley.

People have lost contact with their family members and relatives with phone lines being snapped due to the flood situation. There has been no electricity in many areas including Srinagar for hours.

Media reported, State-run operator BSNL said it has taking the help of the armed forces to restore mobile services.

With both mobile and land lines down, BSNL or Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited said it is rushing experts from Hyderabad and Bangalore to immediately restore mobile services with the help of satellites, reports added.

"Kashmir Valley is cut off from the rest of the country. Mobile link and other services have been affected due to floods which have badly hit BSNL and others telecom infrastructure," a senior BSNL official is heard saying.

Committing to save the precious lives of the flood-ravaged state, the Armed forces have pitched up their rescue & relief efforts higher by deploying special forces.

"The Indian Army will not move back to the barracks till the last man is brought to safety," said General Dalbir Singh, Chief of the Army Staff is quoted by NDTV as saying on Monday.

Not only Army, but the other divisions of nation's armed forces like Navy and Air Force are also doing every thing possible to save human lives.

The Indian Armed Forces have put to use some of the best military skill-sets in the ongoing massive rescue and relief operation in the flood affected area of Jammu & Kashmir.

Defence spokesporson SD GOswami said, taking account of the current situation, the Naval Marine Commandos (MARCOS) are deployed for the first time in the ongoing devastating flood situation in J&K.

They rescued around 200 personnel at Haigaon on Srinagar – Sopore highway. Rescue efforts are now continuing near Pantha Chowk, Srinagar.

Additionally, Naval Diving Teams are also standby at New Delhi, Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam for the rescue efforts.

A medical team is standby at Delhi for immediate deployment.

He said, so far 20,000 stranded people have been evacuated by the Army in different regions of J&K.

Army have distributed 4,000 blankets and 90 tents.

The Army also distributed 23,000 litres of water and 600 kilograms biscuits in the flood-affected areas.

Additional 83 Tons of Emergency rations, 3000 blankets, 45,000 liters of potable water, 1000 life jackets and 220 more tents are also being airlifted from Chandigarh, Pathankot and Kanpur.

In an endeavor to provide speedy medical aid to the affected populace, 60 medical teams of the Armed Forces Medical Services have also swung into action.

Goswami added, 85 metric tonnes of medicines were airlifted for the flood victims.

16 relief camps have been set up in different parts of the State.

1245 people have been airlifted by the Indian Air Force helicopters and transport aircraft.

So far 140 sorties were undertaken by the helicopters and aircraft of Indian Air Force and 155 tonnes of relief materials are dropped by the Indian Air Force.

Altogether 45 aircraft and helicopters have been pressed into action by IAF.

These include 16 Medium Lift Helicopters, 9 Light Helicopters and 7 Transport Aircrafts.

Army spokesperson Colonel Rohan Anand said, 212 Army columns till now have been deployed.

About 22,000 people have been evacuated so far, including 2000 persons from Srinagar city and adjoining areas on Monday. 

65 Medical Teams and 15 Engineer Task Forces(ETFs) are deployed and airlifting of 04 additional ETFs and 10 Medical Teams is underway.

They will carry boats and lifesaving equipment.

The situation is being continuously reviewed and monitored by the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff at HQ IDS with Army and Air Force Operations Directorates.

ETFs is expected to restore communication systems while the Medical Teams will help aid affected people and prevent spread of diseases.

Air Force Rapid Action Medical Team was also flown in from Delhi by a C-17 aircraft for augmenting the medical support in Avantipur.

An Army Engineer Task Force was airlifted from Adampur to Srinagar by a C-130J aircraft.

On the other hand, NDRF has reporttedly to have saved more than 5000 people to safety.

5183 people rescued by National Disaster Response Force or NDRF, over 50 boats operating in Srinagar to rescue people, said a NDRF source.

"With some 750 rescue personnel in operations there, our teams have saved about 5,005 people so far," Sandeep Rai Rathore, inspector general of the National Disaster Response Force, supposedly told AFP.

Six days of incessant rains have submerged hundreds of villages.

Water 12 feet deep in many parts of Srinagar.

Landslides triggered by incessant rain damaged roads, dozens of bridges, buildings and crops in the Jammu region causing disruption to vehicular movement on the Jammu-Pathankot highway.

Katra-bound trains were halted. Haj flights scheduled up to September 12 had been postponed as well, official sources said.

More than 150 people died and hundreds of thousands are stranded in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir as the region is marooned by its worst floods in past six decades, reports said.

A large part of Srinagar is submerged with people waiting on their rooftops.

Media reported,  areas like Pulwama, Anantnag and Shopian in south and central Kashmir are completely cut off with roads and bridges swept away.

Many vital installations like the army cantonment, civil Secretariat, the high court and many hospitals in Srinagar are currently hit by the flood situation.

The state government ordered all schools and colleges to remain closed till September 12.

Many people are now living in relief camps and temporary shelters, sources said.

People have taken refuge at hospitals and other high rise buildings to escape the rising water level.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday undertook an aerial survey of the flood-hit belts dubbing the situation as a “national level disaster”.

He assured that medical and other assistance would be provided on an urgent basis.

He also announced a special assistance of Rs. 1,000 crore for flood-affected Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that Rs. 2 lakh compensation would be given to the kin of each dead and Rs. 50,000 each for those seriously injured owing to the crisis from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.

But, the rescues workers may breathe a sigh of relief after the Meterological Department has ruled out heavy rainfall in the next three to five days in the state.

"This happened due to convergence between western disturbance and low pressure area over Bay of Bengal.

Since this low pressure area has now weakened, we are predicting that there is going to be no rainfall for next 3 to 5 days," media reported quoting B P Yadav, Director, Met department.