NEW DELHI // The Kashmir valley was buckling down in the face of deadly floods on Wednesday, as 19 people were confirmed killed in heavy rain that has been lashing the region for days.
The storm, which started on Sunday and stopped briefly on Tuesday morning, has continued to pound the region, swelling the Jhelum river and sending water into the already waterlogged town of Srinagar.
Fifteen bodies, including an infant’s, were recovered on Tuesday after a mudslide in Ledhan village. Dozens of homes and buildings across the valley, particularly in rural areas, have collapsed.
The rain is expected to continue until Friday, said the Indian Meteorological Department.
“The next 24 hours are crucial,” said Farooq Ahmad Lone, Srinagar’s deputy commissioner who is in charge of relief and rehabilitation.
“We have our plan ready. We would immediately evacuate people if needed.”
With memories of last September’s floods – the worst in a century – still fresh in the minds of Kashmir residents, authorities are trying to ensure they are more prepared this year.
More than 270 people died and 390 villages were completely submerged in those floods, with water as deep as 12 feet in some places in Srinagar, the main city in the Kashmir Valley. Dozens of roads and bridges were washed away, and estimates of the damage caused ranged between 50 and 60 billion rupees (Dh3-3.5bn).
Thousands were left homeless after the floods and through the severe winter, prompting an outpouring of anger towards the Jammu and Kashmir state government that saw Omar Abdullah, then chief minister, voted out of power in December.
This year, around 300 families have already been evacuated from danger areas along the river.
Two National Disaster Response Force teams, comprising 100 personnel altogether, have been dispatched to Srinagar, and the army has helped to set up 20 relief camps.
Prime minister Narendra Modi’s government has sanctioned 2 billion rupees in funds for immediate relief, adding to the 350 million rupees released by the state government.
The Srinagar administration has also kept more than 40 boats on standby to prepare for evacuations.
Last year, hundreds of people were rescued by boats from their rooftops when the lower levels of their buildings were already submerged in water.
“The situation is not as grave as last time,” Rajnath Singh, India’s home ministersaid on Wednesday. “But we are fully alert and if required we will send more assistance.”
Mr Singh’s deputy minister, Kiren Rijiju, appealed for calm in the state.
“A hue and cry about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir isn’t necessary,” Mr Rijiju said. “The situation is [under] control. We are prepared to handle it.”
The Kashmir rains are part of a larger pattern of unseasonal heavy rain this month, making it the wettest March in more than a century in many parts of India. The rain has destroyed millions of acres of crops and kept temperatures in north India lower than usual at this time of year.
GP Sharma, the chief meteorologist at SkyMet, a private weather forecasting service, predicted that the rain in Kashmir would extend until early next week, but with less intensity.
The unusual intensity of the storms, Mr Sharma said, was attributed to a weather system called the western disturbance, which had developed with abnormal strength this year.
“The western disturbance usually originates somewhere over the Mediterranean, picking up moisture there,” he said. “As it moves east, it dispenses rain through Iran and Iraq as well, and then expends the last of it over India before breaking up here.”
The strength of the western disturbance this year, Mr Sharma said, “has ensured that the number of wet days over the Jammu and Kashmir region this year has been more than at any time over the last 10 years.”
ssubramanian@thenational.ae