SCALE OF FLOODING STYMIES RELIEF EFFORTS IN INDIA AND PAKISTAN

[In India, the death toll from the flooding has risen above 150. In Pakistan, the death toll rose to 231 on Tuesday, according to government officials, as rescue efforts were stepped up to reach stranded people across dozens of districts.]

By Betwa Sharma and Nida Najar

The death toll from floods soared into the hundreds by Tuesday, as rescue efforts were 

stymied by the scale of the disaster. Video Credit By Reuters on Publish Date September 
 9, 2014. Image Credit Omer Saleem/European Pressphoto Agency

SRINAGAR, KASHMIR — After nearly a week of incessant rains and flooding that have left hundreds of people dead in Pakistan and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, rescue operations have been strained by the scale of the disaster and a collapse in some areas of the communications infrastructure.

In the Kashmir Valley, people have been stranded in homes, hospitals, hotels and houseboats, at schools and on highways, many going for days without food. Residents have built rafts using planks of wood with tires attached in an effort to evacuate flooded neighborhoods. Indian soldiers who would otherwise be deployed for relief work have instead stayed huddled on the second floor of an army garrison, stranded by water six feet deep.

Perhaps one of the most daunting developments in the relief effort has been the collapse of communication systems, which has hampered emergency medical workers and separated families.

“The lack of communication is a major setback because the commanding officer cannot communicate with his own team,” said Jaydeep Singh, a commanding officer with India’s National Disaster Response Force. He estimated that in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, 70 percent of the population of nearly 1.2 million had been affected by the floods.

Over the weekend, water inundated equipment stored on the ground floor of the Indian state-run telecommunications provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam. The company’s executive director, M.C. Chaube, said that restoring phone service to Srinagar would be difficult.

“Our equipment is underwater and power supply is also down,” he said. “It will take time to restore the network.” Mr. Chaube added that the water would have to recede before they could take stock of the damage.

In India, the death toll from the flooding has risen above 150. In Pakistan, the death toll rose to 231 on Tuesday, according to government officials, as rescue efforts were stepped up to reach stranded people across dozens of districts.

In Punjab Province, Pakistan, 156 deaths have been attributed to heavy rains and floods and 75 people were dead in Pakistani-administered parts of Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, said Zaheer Abbas, an official with the National Disaster Management Authority. At least 2,100 villages have been badly affected by the flooding.

Thousands of villagers in central parts of Punjab are depending on boats and rescue operations to save their lives and livestock. The floodwater is moving downstream and is expected to reach the southern part of Sindh Province and the southwestern part of Baluchistan Province by the end of the week, officials said.

In Jhang, a farming district in Punjab, thousands of people have left their houses after a flood warning was issued by local officials. Many people are using rescue department boats and some have had to swim in water up to six feet deep.

In many parts of the province, the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba is taking part in rescue efforts, using its own boats and ambulances. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the leader of the group, has accused India of aggravating the flood situation in Pakistan.

“India has dropped a water bomb on Pakistan. It is time that the nation should get united against our enemy and teach it a lesson,” Mr. Saeed told a local news television network Tuesday morning.

In Jammu and Kashmir, Irshad Ahmad arrived in Srinagar’s airport Tuesday morning after three days without news of his wife or 3-year-old son, who he believed were trapped in a flooded area of the city. “I have no idea how to reach them or how long it will take to get there,” he said. “It’s up to God.”

Social media has been filled with frantic posts about the location of trapped people. “URGENT! Recvd v desperate call from uncle at Jawaharnagar, near Gurudwara Chowk. 3rd day w/o food, no help gone there at all,” read one message on Twitter. Elsewhere, an online document charted various family members, their presumed locations and when they were last in touch.

In Srinagar, rescue boats were in short supply, according to Mr. Singh, the officer with the national rescue force. He said about a fifth of the 92 boats that his team was using were damaged, their motors blocked by garbage floating in the floodwaters. He estimated that it would take three days to evacuate all of those who are stranded.

Survivors who have made it to safety have begun to realize what they have lost. Hamida, who goes by only one name, was rescued from her neighborhood on Tuesday after spending two days on the roof of her two-story home, which is now destroyed.

“We have become like wandering gypsies now,” she said.

The scale of the disaster has left many frustrated, and Mr. Singh said that many people were turning angry and agitated after being trapped for days.

At the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, a large hospital in Srinagar, doctors said they were running short on medicines. Obtaining more could prove difficult, as flooding has obstructed the supply route. And at a mosque in Srinagar, where roughly 2,000 people are staying after being evacuated, local volunteers brought food, but it was not enough to feed everyone.

Reporting was contributed by Salman Masood from Islamabad, Pakistan; Waqar Gillani from Lahore, Pakistan; Hari Kumar from New Delhi; and Sameer Yasir from Srinagar,India. 

@ The New York Times