Kashmir floods: Omar Abdullah hits out at rumour mongers

Srinagar: Asserting that rescue and relief operations are being intensified, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today hit out at rumour mongers for wrongly spreading that rescue operations were focused only on outsiders and VIPs and not residents of the Valley. Seeking to set the record straight, he told reporters that about 80,000 people of the Valley were rescued by the armed forces and NDRF from their marooned houses while 13,100 were airlifted out of Kashmir. [caption id=“attachment_1712059” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Omar Abdullah. PTI[/caption] “Rescue efforts continue apace. The sense that has been generated in Srinagar is that rescue effort has been focused only on tourists, VIPs and outside labour. When you look at numbers, nothing can be further from truth,” Omar said. “Giving details, he said army alone has rescued some 59,000 people of Kashmir while the NDRF figure stands at 10,000. Besides, CRPF and others also rescued. “The number of people flown out of Srinagar by helicopters is 13,100. That by itself suggests that the lion’s share of rescue has been focused on residents of Kashmir who have not left the town. I think it is important to dispel that this entire rescue operation was focused on outsiders and no Srinagar resident was rescued,” the Chief Minister said. “I want people of Srinagar to understand that our efforts are not focused purely on outsiders. We have rescued everybody whom we could reach,” he said. Omar also referred to “rumours’ about bodies being washed away to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), questioning how they could pass through two power projects and go across. “Don’t go by rumour. The death toll for entire Kashmir Valley still is 30. I appeal to people not to fall for such scare or rumour mongering. We need to get together,” he said. Referring to cleaning of Srinagar city, he said it was not for outsiders to do but its own citizens should work in this direction. The Chief Minister said water level in Jhelum has dropped below the danger mark of 18 feet for the first time in 10 days, a development which the government had been waiting for as it cannot plug the breaches that have occurred in the river bank. He said weather this morning, when rains came for some time, was “worrying” and it had caused “great deal of concern among all of us” but thankfully it cleared out later. On the efforts to remove water from the inhabited areas of the city, he said fire department, municipality and other departments have been asked to deploy their pumps. Besides two heavylift portable pumps have been made available. Two more very heavy duty pumps are being brought from Raipur and when these arrive they would be deployed for additional pumping capacity. Regarding the relief supplies, the Chief Minister said ration is available in adequate quantity within the Valley itself and it is being distributed through Mohalla Committees and Masjid Committees. “It is possible that some may not be receiving ration from our hands. But it does not matter from whose hands they receive as long as they receive,” he said, while referring to reports that in some areas people have refused to accept government relief. On health fears, Omar said the major concern is about measles outbreak among children, in view of the experience of tsunami of 2004 in south India. Inoculation drive has been initiated among children upto 15 years, he said, adding the central government should help with medicines. He said 400 doctors have been deployed across the Valley. Besides chlorination is being done and four RO water purifiers have been distributed. Road connectivity between Jammu and Srinagar has been restored, not via the National Highway but through a longer route. With regard to the situation in north Kashmir, Omar said the water level is above the normal mark but not critical. PTI