India and Pakistan scramble to send aid to flooded Kashmir Valley
Monsoon rains have inundated towns and villages in northeast Pakistan and India-administered Kashmir, killing nearly 140 people in both countries. Pakistan's Army is leading aid efforts there.
Monsoon rains have inundated towns and villages in northeast Pakistan and India-administered Kashmir, killing nearly 140 people in both countries. Pakistan's Army is leading aid efforts there.
Early rescue efforts are underway in the Kashmir Valley, as the region struggles to cope with flash flooding that has killed dozens.
Heavy rainfall started Wednesday in northeast Pakistan and Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan region split between Pakistan and India. At least 72 people have been killed across Pakistan and 65 in India-administered Kashmir, the Associated Press reports.聽
海角大神 Science Monitor correspondent Syed Nazakat, reporting from Srinagar, capital of India-controlled Kashmir, says he鈥檚 seen families displaced from their homes, a hospital evacuated, and people on the streets giving advice on what roads to avoid.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen such flooding here,鈥� says Mr. Nazakat, who was raised in the Kashmir Valley and visits frequently. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the worst national calamities in Kashmir.鈥�
India鈥檚 DNA newspaper says the flooding in Kashmir is the worst in six decades. In 2010, monsoon floods in Pakistan affected over 20 million people and cost billions of dollars in infrastructure and crop damage, far more than the current flooding. 聽
The Indian Army deployed 85 troops to the region and has rescued 2,500 people so far, the Times of India reports.
At least 300 rescuers are in Kashmir from the National Disaster Response Force, a local official told the AP. The state government has pledged $3.3 million for search and rescue efforts, and is beginning to set up rescue shelters. For rescue efforts, boats were employed and local mosques piped out warnings.聽
In Pakistan, the most serious flooding is in Punjab Province bordering Kashmir. The head of the local disaster management agency says most deaths occurred when the roofs on their homes collapsed.聽
The Army has been the main source of relief efforts in Pakistan, Reuters reports:
In southern Kashmir, the Jhelum River is at its highest level ever recorded聽鈥撀�4 feet above the danger level, chief irrigation and flood control engineer Javed Jaffer told the Washington Post.
Shuja鈥檃t Bukhari, editor in chief of a local newspaper, Rising Kashmir, told the Post that the floods are worse than those he reported on in Kashmir in 1994, and that there was little warning given to citizens.
The Monitor鈥檚 Nazakat says there was a large crowd for Friday prayers at mosques in Srinagar, and that there have been ongoing meetings to pray for the rain to stop.
Pakistan鈥檚 meteorological service warned there could be more flash flooding this weekend.聽
The crisis has "touched almost every part of the Kashmir Valley,鈥� says Nazakat. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had problems with massive snow before, but never so much rain.鈥澛�