The Deluge 2014 in J&K

 * Prof. Mahmood Ahmad Tak

The deluge in J&K in September 2014, which broke all the previous records both in Kashmir and Jammu provinces, has left a trail of destruction in almost every part of this already vexed state.  The flood havoc has left both the Jammu region and the Kashmir Valley equally ruined. The large-scale devastation and destruction has impacted every walk of life and there is hardly any family which has not been affected, directly or indirectly, by this completely unpredicted misery.

The state of Jammu & Kashmir has long been in the grip of natural disasters, especially the one that hit the state recently. Worst sufferers were the poor people who reside both in towns and villages and due to continuous heavy rains many of them lost their precious lives and shelters. Their crops totally vanished making the survivors very hard to survive in the coming days. They are now totally dependent on the help from the government or some social organizations that can come to their rescue in these hard times when the after effects of floods are seen everywhere.

The deluge actually started with the heavy monsoon rains on September 2, 2014 in Jammu and Kashmir region leading to heavy flooding. On September 3, a border security officer and five others were killed in landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy rains in Jammu region. On September 4, about 40 people were killed in a torrent that washed away a bus carrying the wedding party in the southern Rajouri district. The Jammu and Kashmir government sounded a flood alert for the state on September 4 after three days of incessant rain had flooded 23 villages. By September 6, some 390 villages were inundated and the death toll had risen to 150, as per the official reports. On September 7, the Prime Minister declared a national emergency. The reports claimed that it was the worst flood in the last 109 years.

Heavy rainfall caused flash flooding with localized damage across the state, landslides, which impacted on communities and road connectivity and widespread flooding in the Kashmir Valley. Flood waters breached embankments in many low-lying areas in Kashmir, including the capital Srinagar, forcing people to move to safer places. River Jhelum, River Chenab and many other streams were flowing above the danger mark. The worst affected districts were Kulgam, Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam, Srinagar, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi. On the whole about five hundred human lives were reported lost. It was reported that 450 villages, with an estimated rural population of 823,281, were flooded, with farmlands being submerged. The Jhelum River had been flowing 4-5 feet above danger mark in Srinagar. Links of valley to the rest of the country were badly damaged and took about two weeks to open again. 300 km long National Highway had to be closed for vehicular traffic for many days because of landslides and floods. As many as 60 major and minor roads were cut off and over 30 bridges washed away, hampering the relief and rescue operations. Except for connectivity between Srinagar and north Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, all other districts of the valley including Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Budgam, Baramulla and Bandipora were cut off. Due to heavy rains and floods the standing crops were totally damaged. Fields saturated in water and crops vanished making people of the State totally dependent on food from the relief agencies as their crops have been vanished due to this natural calamity.

Jammu and Kashmir is basically an agrarian economy, with 70% of the population dependent on agricultural activities. The state is known for its agricultural and mineral resources especially for the growth of Basmati rice. The fruit crops grown in the state include apples, cherries, pomegranates, peaches, pears, walnuts etc. Animal husbandry is also a source of income. Other sources of livelihoods include labour, small business, petty shop owners and artisans. Paddy and fruit crops have suffered huge losses, there are also reports of severe damage to vegetable and maize crops, the crops have either been lost or there has been a reduction in the yield. It is likely that the land may become unfit for agricultural production in the coming years. There has been potential loss of seeds and tools. Supply routes and transportation networks were severely affected that led to reduced availability of food stocks, increased prices and reduced access of households to food.  Access issues also hampered the Integrated Child Development Services and Public Distribution System. Flooding has had a major impact on household level food stocks, with water logging causing damage to dry storage, and flash floods washing away household assets. The poorest survive by buying and cooking food daily, maintaining limited storage of food supplies. Flooding also caused major loss of livestock.

Water sources remained inundated and got contaminated. Displaced populations in alternate shelters were devoid of safe drinking water. After the floodwater receded, there was water logging for more than a week in the low level areas, leading to the problem of water contamination. Overflow of pit latrines and sanitation practices continued to be at risk after water receded. Government sources also indicated that groundwater is contaminated which may indicate a need for continued water treatment or long term solutions.

Srinagar city has been the worst hit by the floods and the damage suffered by the summer Capital is more than the aggregate of losses in other affected districts of Kashmir. While Srinagar tops the devastation in the housing sector, the losses in the business sector are feared to be even bigger as the commercial hub of Lal Chowk and its neighborhood were also deluged and markets are still far from resuming normal life.

Official reports claim that as many as 72, 291 houses have been listed as damaged in the City alone whereas the aggregate of dwellings damaged in other nine affected districts including Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Baramulla and Kupwara is around 68,000. In Srinagar, at least 5,010 houses were fully damaged while the figure could rise as some victims have demanded fresh survey.

The devastating floods have dealt a severe blow to the educational infrastructure of the state with about 4,600 government and 1,500 private schools damaged in Kashmir division according to the official reports. Across Jammu division, about 1,200 government schools were damaged. Of these, 200 buildings have either been washed away or fully damaged and over 1,000 are partially damaged. The schools in low-lying areas in 70 villages in Jammu were inundated. The three districts including border districts of Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch have suffered extensive damage to school buildings.

The floods have dealt a heavy blow to Kashmir’s higher education sector as well, with losses amounting to over Rs 100 crores. The floods have hit hard 10 colleges in Kashmir, seven in Srinagar and three in Anantnag districts. The floods have destroyed everything in these 10 colleges, be it their laboratories, libraries, classrooms or offices. The affected colleges cater to 18 percent of entire college-going students of Kashmir. Estimates indicate that the floods have directly affected 20,000 students in the valley. The damage is so severe in the colleges that the Higher Education department is still unable to decide where to start from again and how. Barring Govt. Women College Nawakadal, all the colleges in Srinagar remained inundated for several days. Similarly in South Kashmir, GDC Bijbehara, GDC (Boys) Anantnag and GDC for women Anantnag were severely affected by the floods. Some of the worst affected colleges in Srinagar include Amar Singh College, S P College, Women College M A Road, Gandhi Memorial College and GDC Bemina. Other colleges like Islamia College of Science and Commerce at Hawal has also suffered structural damage during these floods. The laboratories, libraries and other infrastructure worth crores has been lost. In Jammu there were few incidents of structural damages and all colleges are functional.

We are presently in the post-disaster phase of the recent hit disaster, facing the after effects of the deluge. It is not that we have faced a disaster for the first time…!!! We have faced disasters in the past, even in the recent past. We have still not forgotten the snowstorm and ferocious blizzard of Waltengo Nar in Qazigund in February 2005 that killed 162 persons and people were starved off for several days. The memories are still fresh in the minds of the people of the devastation that was caused as a result of the massive earthquake on October 8, 2005 in which there was a huge loss of life and property.

This flood has been termed as a disaster of “international magnitude” by the government, which affected more than a million people across Kashmir. With thousands of families in flood-affected areas of Kashmir continuing to remain displaced and a humanitarian crisis looming large, children are being seen as the worst sufferers of the calamity. The flood, which killed hundreds, left thousands of people homeless and bruised the psyche of millions, is particularly seen to have a lasting impact on the psychology and general healthcare of children, according to studies and experts. Analysts also believe that if basic amenities like food, shelter and medicine are not provided to the affected children, it will affect them badly in future and the repercussions could be shocking given the images of devastation embedded in their minds.

All natural disasters cause loss in one way or the other depending on the severity. Lives are lost in disasters. Falling of buildings or trees, freezing to death, being washed away are just some of the deadly effects. Some disasters cause more loss of life than others. Then there is a loss of property which affects people, living quarters, transportation, and livelihood. And every time a disaster strikes us, we become conscious as to how we should prepare ourselves for any disasters in future. But then, after some years we forget everything and become ignorant. It is high time to understand the intensity of the devastation that is caused by these disasters and become disaster prepared to face any disasters in future as well, for we are living in disaster prone area. Natural disasters are a part of life as we know it. However, science is making it more possible to predict and helping us to learn to face these disasters with minimum losses.

Chronology of some major events:

1. September 2: Heavy monsoon rains lashed J&K, including the summer capital Srinagar.
2. September 3: Heavy rains continued for the second consecutive day, triggering flood threat across the Valley.
3. Flashfloods triggered by incessant rains wreaked havoc in Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu, forcing the administration to sound an alert in several areas.
4. Heavy rains triggered landslides in Jammu, killing a border security officer and five others.
5. The water level in Chenab, Jhelum and other major rivers and streams like Vaishaw, Sandran, Lidder, Toungri and Vaishav nallahs in the State rose overnight. The water level of Jhelum River at Sangam rose above danger mark (22 ft).
6. A Torrent washed away a bus carrying a wedding party, killing 50 people in the Lam-Darhal road in Nowshehra Tehsil of the southern Rajouri district.
7. At least five persons, including four children and a woman, were killed after landslides hit three mud houses (dhoks) of nomads at Kala Jhar area in Mahore tehsil.
8. Two persons died after being washed away in local streams while 100 houses located close to a river in Poonch town were washed away.
9. September 4: The Jammu and Kashmir government sounded a flood alert for the state after three days of incessant rain had flooded 23 villages in the Southern districts of Anantnag and Pulwama. The river Jhelum crossed the danger mark, inundating several more areas.
10. After continuous spell of rains, flood waters breached embankments in many low-lying areas in Kashmir, including the summer capital Srinagar, forcing people to move to safer places. Jhelum River crossed 30-feet mark at Sangam in Anantnag—seven feet above danger mark. Jhelum touched 21.8 feet against the danger level of 18-feet at Ram Munshi Bagh.
11. Many areas in Srinagar including Hamdania Colony in Bemina, Lasjan, Armwari, Kanlipora, Kursoo Rajbagh and Natipora were inundated after flood waters entered there. Safa Kadal, Eidgah, Nowshehra, Soura, Ali Jan Road, Gulshan Nagar, Mehjoor Nagar, Gogji Bagh, Wazir Bagh, Jawahar Nagar, Rajbagh and Bemina, were inundated later. Several important roads, lanes and by-lanes in the commercial hub of Lal Chowk were also submerged due to water-logging.
12. September 5: The water level in Jhelum crossed 31-feet in Sangam. Dozens of villages in near Sangam including Marhama were also submerged.
13. Many areas in the old Anantnag town and KP Road were also submerged in floodwater. Flood water also entered areas of Mattan Chowk, Dangerpora, Mehandi Kadal, Lal Chowk, Janglat Mandi, Achajipora, Moominabad, Iqbal Market, Bakshiabad, Laizbal, Anchidora, SK Colony, Achabal Adda, Naibasti and Khanabal.
14. In Dooru and Shangus many houses collapsed after floodwater entered the area.
15. Dozens of small bridges in Kulgam either collapsed or were washed away by the floods.
16. A breach on Jhelum occurred at Kandizal in Budgam area, affecting a population of 70,000 souls. This has stabilized flood level at 21.8 feet at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar for last four to five hours.
17. Dozens of villages in Kokernag have been hit by landslides. Many villages have been cut off due to damage to bridges following flashfloods.
18. Dozens of villages in Kakpora, Awantipora, Pampore and Tral were submerged in water.
19. Rambiara Nallah in Shopian overflowing.
20. At least 13 members of a family were killed Friday after massive landslides in Rajouri district.
21. Three persons were killed when they were washed away in flashfloods in Sukhnag Nalla in central Kashmir’s Budgam district.
22. September 6: Some 390 villages were inundated and the death toll had risen to 150, as per the official reports.
23. September 7: Prime Minister declared a national emergency. The reports claimed that it was the worst flood in the last 109
24. September 8: In many parts of Srinagar’s neighbourhood, the water was about 15 feet (4.7 m) deep, submerging entire houses.
25. The death toll till September 10 had crossed 190 in Kashmir valley and areas affected by the floods were mostly districts in South Kashmir.

Summary of the Losses to Life and Property:

Total Population Affected by way of Communication, Accessibility, Availability of Supplies, Agriculture, Livestock, and Assets Losses	10,136,063
Population indirectly Affected indirectly by way of impact on roads, access, local economy, markets, availability of food, food price increases, contamination of water sources, public infrastructure	8,186,273
Population Affected directly (tangible and intangible)	1,949,790
Deaths	450+
Direct loss of household assets, livelihood, Psychosocial	1,406,311
Total Houses completely damaged in Srinagar District:	72,291+
Total Houses completely damaged in other 9 districts including those of Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama Budgam, Baramulla, Bandipora and Ganderbal	68,000+
Number of govt. educational institutions damaged in Kashmir	4,600
Number of private educational institutions damaged in Kashmir	1,500
Number of School buildings washed away or damaged fully in Kashmir (Buildings have either been washed away or fully damaged)	200
Number of School buildings damaged partially in Kashmir	1,000
Estimate of damages to Higher Education Sector	Rs 100 crores.
No. of Colleges damaged in Kashmir, (7 in Srinagar and 3 in Anantnag District)	10
No. of Students affected directly (18% of the total college going students)	20,000