All arms of the Indian state, especially the Army and the Air Force, began fighting the dangerous flood situation in Jammu and Kashmir a few days ago — even before Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly described it as a “national-level disaster” when he flew into Jammu last Sunday and conferred with chief minister Omar Abdullah.
While some parts of the Jammu region suffered a major crisis in the beginning when incessant rains lashed the state, now the entire Kashmir Valley is facing the fury of unimaginable floods. Srinagar, the state’s summer capital, is almost entirely submerged. In some areas, the water level has risen two storeys high on account of the monsoon rains that have caused the Jhelum to breach its banks.
The disaster has been compounded by landslides and rescue work is far from easy as the road leading from the airport has been made inaccessible and key military and civilian institutions, including hospitals, are virtually under water. No other state capital in the country has been hit as bad as this by flooding waters.
The suffering of the people is unimaginable. Ordinary folk in the state suffered grievously in the terrorism years, and then again in 2005 when a major earthquake hit northern Kashmir. But never has life come to a grinding halt in this fashion across all parts of the state.
While rescue operations are on and all hands are fully engaged in this gigantic task, rehabilitating Kashmir is likely to take a long time. Officially calling the crisis a “national-level disaster” will allow funds for rescue and relief activity to move freely to alleviate the suffering.
Mercifully, the political elements in the state are too stunned at the moment to try and squeeze political advantage out of the present grimness. But they may just be tempted when the weather and the fury of the flood ease. They will be well advised to desist.
Perhaps the terrorists will also be forced to take a pause as the regions from the Pakistan side from which they infiltrate have also been badly hit by rain and floods.
In order that the attention of the country remains focused on helping the state, it may be useful if Assembly elections are postponed. All parties should be brought into discussion to consider the extraordinary situation.
Climate change is, of course, responsible for the unusually high rainfall in north and north-western India which has led to the disaster of the present magnitude in J&K.
There is no doubt that reckless human activity, which has perhaps been illegal for the most part, has contributed in no small measure to changing traditional weather patterns, not least in the Kashmir Valley.
