SRINAGAR, Sept 16:
When NDRF personnel were rushed in here 12 days back, topmost on their minds was to rescue people marooned in flood waters but they had no idea that they will face hostility from those whom they were saving.
At various places in Srinagar, the personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) faced anti-India sloganeering, stone pelting and even one of their personnel was knifed.
Five NDRF people were injured and a few of their boats were snatched by the locals, according to NDRF officials.
One boat is still missing. A life jacket was also snatched by some mobs, they said.
The situation was more severe towards the beginning of the rescue operations but improved later, the officials said.
“Initially, there were incidents of stone pelting…There was stone pelting in Lal Chowk area… One of our boys was knifed on his right hand,” said Inspector Ramakant Pandey, whose unit has been involved in rescue operations.
As many as 35 teams of NDRF, each comprising 47 personnel, have been engaged in rescue and relief operations since they were rushed in here from Bhatinda, Ghaziabad and Gandhinagar on September 5 as flood waters entered the city and the level rose rapidly.
The force has evacuated 50,629 people so, according to its spokesman.
Narrating the difficulties the force had to face on a humanitarian mission of saving lives, Pandey said at some places people fought with our personnel and even among themselves as everyone wanted to be evacuated first.
“We were airdropped in Kashmir on September 5. First we tried to go to Anantnag (in South Kashmir) but the road was completely inaccessible. Then we went to Pulwama. And as soon as we started our rescue operations on September 6, there was stone pelting,” the NDRF official said.
“It was a very hostile attitude even though we saved a group of people whose boat had capsized and provided them first aid,” he said.
Citing another instance, Pandey said a truck drowned in Dal gate area as people forcibly climbed onto it and was overloaded.
At many places, the locals fought among themselves over who should be evacuated first.
“The situation was difficult because of the attitude of the locals,” he said.
The NDRF is now engaged in distribution of relief material to flood-affected people.
So far it has distributed about 68.6 tonne of relief material in Srinagar, with 29.6 tonne being distributed yesterday only, an NDRF spokesman said.
Besides, health camps are being run by NDRF in various areas of Srinagar, treating patients and distributing medicines.
Over 6,216 patients have been attended by NDRF, the spokesman said. (PTI)
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