DISASTER

Death under snow

SHUJAAT BUKHARI
in Waltengu Naar

Avalanches kill several hundred people and cause heavy loss of property as Kashmir experiences its worst snowfall in recent years.

NISSAR AHMAD

Residents of Waltengu Naar in South Kashmir carrying a body recovered from the snow.

FOR many years, summer was harsh in Kashmir with long dry spells that affected agriculture. The reason for this was the poor snowfall in winter. Even Chila-e-Kilan, the harshest period of Kashmir's winter, which runs from mid-December to end January, did not see much snow. The story was the same this season too.

However, the second part of winter beginning February, known as Chila-e-Khored, turned out to be devastating. The unprecedented snowfall, which lashed the whole of Kashmir Valley and parts of Jammu, took a heavy toll of life and property. As many as 300 people were killed and many are still reported missing. Thousands of houses were destroyed. The damage to agriculture, particularly horticulture, has been enormous.

The impact of the snowfall was first felt on February 7, when the 300-kilometre-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway got blocked and 17 soldiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were swept away in the avalanches. Srinagar was buried under heavy snow, which threw life out of gear. There was no water or power supply. With the shops remaining closed for three days, the demand for essential commodities went up.

NISSAR AHMAD

A damaged house at Waltengu Naar.

The State government, which was caught unawares, is facing severe criticism for its inability to manage the crisis caused by what is christened "snow-tsunami" by the regional press. "We were not prepared for this havoc," admitted Taj Mohiuddin, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution.

While the plight of those living in urban Kashmir got good media coverage, south Kashmir had no such privilege though a whole area was flattened by avalanches. In Waltengu Naar, a cluster of tiny hamlets in the Himalayan ranges in south Kashmir, nearly 200 people were buried alive in their hutments.

According to villagers here, mostly herdsmen, the heavy snowfall started on February 16. By the night of February 19, it had assumed dangerous proportions. As the avalanches started hitting the mud hutments, some 100 residents managed to get out of the snow that was 10 to 16 feet high, the highest recorded in recent years. They started trekking the snowy slopes down towards Qazigund. At the same time, a group of villagers from the low-lying areas decided to walk up to the inaccessible hamlets. The two groups met halfway, and that was how the news spread. According to Army sources, a villager walked for 20 hours to inform the nearest post of 49 Rashtriya Rifles; the police acknowledged that they were informed about the marooned village by the Army. "But the police were the first to reach there," said Nazir Ahmad, an Assistant Sub-Inspector posted at Qazigund.

However, on February 23, when Frontline visited the village, residents were waging a battle against the snow with the help of spades and shovels, with the 50-odd police and Army personnel present rendering not much help. Now the area is thronged by many government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) seeking to provide relief and rehabilitation.

DANISH ISMAIL/REUTERS

Survivors at the relief camp in Yar Khushipora.

EXCEPT graves, nothing is visible now in Waltengu. "I lost ten of my family members as a giant wall of snow slammed into our village," says Abdul Gani, a labourer. The dead include his two sons, six-year-old Altaf and 18-month-old Aslam.

Master Bashir Ahmad, another resident, lost 22 of his relatives to the avalanche. His two sons were rescued but only to die in hospital for want of medicines. His wife Hajra was rescued alive from under the snow after three days by the villagers.

There is hardly a resident in Waltengu who has not lost a relative. "The avalanches crushed everything. It killed people and animals, and destroyed trees," said Muhammad Shafi, who was attending to one of his injured relatives at the Qazigund hospital. He lost five relatives including his two-year-old son, but was caring for four others who survived.

Many children who have lost their parents refuse to go back to their villages. Many of them have nobody to look after them. At a make-shift camp in Yar Khushipora, 6 km away from Waltengu, Additional Director-General of Police (Armed) Kuldhip Khuda picked up three such children for adoption. Many NGOs are coming forward to help the destitute children. The dozens of children at the camp still play in the snow, but at night many of them wake up seeing nightmares.

NISSAR AHMAD

Bodies of those killed by avalanches at Waltengu.

After the initial rescue operation, the State may face another challenge - from epidemics. Dr. Muzaffar Ahmed, Director, State Health Services, said that the authorities were equipped to meet any such eventuality.

Even as snow swept the whole valley, the Army faced no losses. But all the other forces - the police, the Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the ITBP - had to pay a price. If the ITBP lost 17 men on Jawahar Tunnel, the BSF lost nearly a dozen men in the border district of Kupwara.

The Army encountered unprecedented weather conditions along the 750-km-long Line of Control (LoC). Chief of Staff of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Major-General Raj Mehta, said that such a situation had come about after 43 years. "There are places in the [western] Uri sector where the accumulated snowfall level is touching 70 feet. In Gulmarg sub-sector where our troops are operating, the snowfall level is 66 feet," Gen. Mehta said.

FOR once, Kashmir became the destination of top dignitaries for reasons other than militancy. From Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, almost all those who matter in New Delhi had made it to Waltengu and other places to visit the suffering. But leaders of the main Opposition at the Centre, the Bharatiya Janata Party, were missing.

NISSAR AHMAD

Vehicles stranded on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway on February 22.

The first to reach Srinagar was Sonia Gandhi, along with Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee. She asked the governments in New Delhi and Srinagar to speed up the relief work. The Prime Minister, who too made an aerial survey of the affected areas, announced that Rs.1 lakh each would be paid from the National Relief Fund to the kin of the deceased.

Union Home Secretary Dhirendra Singh announced that a National Disaster Response Force will soon come up to fight such tragedies. He said that eight battalions from the BSF, the CRPF and the ITBP would be specially trained for the purpose. "One such battalion will be shortly moved to Jammu and Kashmir to be part of the ongoing rescue operations," he said.

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said the survivors in avalanche-prone regions would be moved to safer areas. "I assure them that the government will spare no effort to provide relief to them and ensure adequate rehabilitation of the survivors - psychologically, financially and logistically", he told Frontline. The State government has announced Rs.1 lakh each as ex gratia payment for the kin of the deceased.

The government sought Rs.1,500 crores for relief and rehabilitation - Rs.500 crores for immediate relief and the remaining for long-term rehabilitation work - from the Centre.

The separatists too chipped in to help the victims. Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik was in the forefront of those walking the long distance to the affected areas to provide the survivors clothes, food, medicine and boots.

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