SRINAGAR : The flood situation in Kashmir worsened today as many parts of Srinagar, including the Army cantonment in Badamibagh, were inundated and vital roads submerged.
The embankments of River Jhelum were breached at many places due to rise in water level, submerging areas like Badamibagh, Sonawar, Rajbagh, Kursu, Natipora, Nowgam and old Barzulla, officials said.
Water has also seeped into important installations like Civil Secretariat and High Court in the heart of the city, the official said.
They said vital roads including the airport road, Exhibition Crossing, Hari Singh High Street, Lal Chowk and Regal Chowk have also been submerged under several feet of water.
Access to main hospitals like SMHS and Lalla Ded has been cut off due to the flooding of the roads.
Thousands of people from water-logged areas have been moved to safer places but many people have been trapped in upper stories of their homes in low-lying areas of the city, the officials said.
Communication system has been disrupted with all almost all private cellular networks out of order. The landline telephone network has also been badly affected.
“We are not able to get information from areas which have been cut off by flood water. Exact extent of deaths and destruction over the past 24 hours is not known,” an official in the Police Control Room said.
Electricity and water supply has remained disrupted in affected areas for the past six days now.
Torrential monsoon rains, which triggered flooding, landslides and house collapses in Jammu and Kashmir, have so far claimed 116 lives in the state.
A senior official said that additional teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 100 boats have been rushed to Kashmir for launching rescue operations in the Valley.
“We are facing shortage of boats for rescuing people from inundated areas. A lot of 100 boats is being airlifted from Delhi which shall be landing here any moment,” Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Rohit Kansal told.
Kansal said many people were trapped in several localities which have been inundated due to breach in banks of River Jhelum at some places.
“Due to shortage of boats we have not been able to reach these areas yet,” he said.
He said additional teams of NDRF are flying into the Valley to carry out rescue operations. (agencies)
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