Floods that have killed 450 people in India and Pakistan began to recede on Wednesday giving rescue teams a chance to evacuate thousands of villagers stranded by the heaviest rainfall in 50 years in the heavily militarised and disputed region of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK).
On the Indian side of the divided region, floods and landslides have cut off more than 1 million people from basic services, triggering a massive military rescue operation that has so far evacuated 80,000 from villages and city rooftops.
Tempers rose on Wednesday with some angry that relief efforts were only reaching them six days after the floods began. Others complained about living conditions in temporary camps.
Villagers heckled some soldiers and beat a rescue official who was airlifted for emergency treatment.
The flooding is the first major humanitarian emergency under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and also comes at a difficult time for Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has faced weeks of street protests aimed at forcing him out.
“There are some villages where everything has been swept away. People are extremely angry, frustrated and exhausted,” Indian police official RK Khan said.
Many phone lines in the region have been down since the weekend. A police official estimated that thousands were yet to be evacuated.
State Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vowed to restore emergency services.
“I know people have lost everything. We promise to rehabilitate them. No relief and rehab camps can be perfect. We are doing all we can,” Abdullah told reporters.
He said the priority was to distribute clean drinking water, medicines, food for infants and prevent the spread of water-borne diseases.
The prime ministers of India and Pakistan offered each other help at the weekend to deal with the disaster, which temporarily diverted attention from fighting along the border.
Comments are closed.