Avtar Bhat
SRINAGAR, Sept 14: Though some vested elements are provoking people to attack army engaged in eviction of people and distribution of relief among flood victims in some localities of city where the natural calamity spelt a doom last week, majority of Kashmiris not paying heed to it, laud the yeoman’s role played by Indian Army, Air Force and NDRF in evicting the marooned people to safer places and providing timely relief to them.
Majority of Kashmiris have no two thoughts about the yeoman’s role of Army and compliment the Indian forces for lifting old and frail men and women on their shoulders from flood hit areas of the Capital city and other parts of Valley to safer places. They also see a human face in Indian Army which seeing the gravity of the situation and devastation created by floods that brought medicare services to grinding halt in Kashmir Valley, opened special medical camps at various places, engaged its doctors and para medical staff there to exam patients and provide free medicines to them.
The Excelsior team during its visit to flood ravaged areas of Srinagar saw queues of patients in front of Army medical camps for examination and taking medicines.
Safia a young house wife who had taken her mother in-law to such a medical camp set up by Army at Hyderpora Chowk, the hometown of Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani said that all the life saving drugs of her mother in-law were washed away in floods at Humhama after the water entered their houses and submerged the entire area .
She said her mother in-law who is a diabetic and hypertension patient is dependent on life saving drugs and her condition became critical during last two days as she could not get the life saving support.
“We came to know that Army has opened a free medical camp here and without wasting any minute we traveled in three feet deep water from Humhama and reached the army medical camp to get free check up of my mother -in-law conducted and also seek the life saving medicines for her”, she added.
The Army doctors not only treated us patiently but also gave a free doze of medicines for a fortnight, she added.
Lashing out at separatists, she said that they have gone into hibernation and did not come in support of the people in this hour adversity. They have been misleading the people by asking them to pelt stones on security forces. But there will be no takers for the same as these were the forces who came as saviors of people in this devastation caused by floods, she added.
She said the people have suffered a huge devastation during the floods and it will take years together in rehabilitating them. The separatists instead of shunning the path of violence and cooperating with Government at this hour of crisis are provoking people to indulge in violence and put them to more trouble which will not be tolerated, she added.
Same were the views of a Sumo driver Irfan Ahmed, in which Excelsior team traveled from Airport to Ompora Budgam. Hitting out at separatists, he said these were Indian forces and some local volunteers who evicted people to safer places from flood hit areas. “Had not they come to the rescue of the people the devastation would have been much more and there would have been an alarming loss of human lives”, he added.
There was no word from separatist leaders during first one week of floods and they had gone to hibernation. After seeing that life is slowly limping back to normalcy and they have been marginalized by the selfless services of Indian forces they started indulging in dirty politics and tried to exploit the innocent Kashmiris for their vested interests. By this they were sowing the seeds of hatred, he added.
“How can Kashmiris who saw death approaching them when their houses were in 12 to 14 feet water forget the services of Army which not only risked their lives by bringing people out from those houses also which were at verge of collapse but also carried ration on their backs to distribute among the flood hit people”, he added.
Bashir Indrabi a veteran Trade unionist from Kashmir putting up at Tulsi Bagh quarters who also offered a cup of black tea to Excelsior team saying that he has no milk at his quarter, also complimented the Indian forces saying that the rescue operations launched by them are highly disciplined.
He said those leaders who provoke people to attack rescue teams of Army are worst enemies of Kashmiris as Army has done a great service during these crisis.
Indrabi however demanded that in future Government should frame a concrete policy to over come such a catastrophe and there should be a contingency plan for the same. He suggested that every fire station should be equipped with 50 to 60 boats and its personnel besides fire fighting should be given training how to evict people from marooned areas in floods so that the damages can be minimized.
Fed up with State Government the people are also demanding that the relief be distributed either through Central agencies or Army itself instead of the State Government agencies.
Mir Ghulam Rasool, chairman People’s Welfare Society whose organization has set up relief camps in Ganderbal area, said that the State Government agencies should not be entrusted the job of relief distribution as people have lost faith in them.
He said Ganderbal area is facing scarcity of food grains, petrol diesel etc and CAPD has failed to maintain supply.
He said hundreds of marooned families from Sonawari who have taken refuge in Ganderbal district need immediate relief.
Bashir Ahmed Dar another social activist from Sumbal Sonawari has appealed the Union Government to intensify the relief and rescue measures in North Kashmir belt also where the Jhelum has inundated various villages in Sumbal Sonawari area. He said the Gulamyari Third Defense bund on Wular lake is at the verge of collapse and it can create a havoc if immediate steps will not be taken to strengthen it.
He, while welcoming the role of Indian forces appealed them to pay attention to it also as breach in the defense bund will create a havoc in North Kashmir and villages of Sadarkoot, Bila Hak, Sadnara will get completely submerged in water.
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