"I still remember it was raining very heavily that day;, all my family members were in the house, there was a huge thud, and in a moment everything was destroyed," says Javed Ahmed, 28 who hails from Bariyari village in Mandi tehsil of Poonch district. aved was so helpless against nature's fury, he could see nothing but water gushing from all sides, his shouts completely unheard. Dim and frail, quite meekly he also succumbed and accepted a man's defeat against the mighty nature. His house was one amongst the 742 houses in Mandi tehsil and one amongst 4075 houses which got damaged in Poonch alone. His family was one amongst the many families affected and he was another survivor who has lived to tell the tale of the disaster.
Javed, who now resides in his relative's house recalls the horrific day when he lost three of his thirteen family members . Those who managed to survive were badly injured in the landslide. "Somehow I managed to escape from the window, but I fainted. By the time I regained consciousness, everything was over" he adds .
"We saw the entire devastation with our own eyes, but could not do anything" adds Javed's younger brother Imran Khan, who managed to recover from a severe head injury due to the landslide.
According to official figures, 282 people lost their lives and 403 were injured in Jammu and Kashmir. More than 559 bridges, 4,350 miles of roads and hundreds of irrigation canals were heavily affected. All the livestock, household goods and money were lost in the floods. The sight was so horrific and dreadful. He cries : "I could see blood everywhere, people injured, I lost my father Sayeed Mohammed, who was the Naib Sarpanch of this village."
The media reported mostly about the Srinagar devastation, but what happened to many villages like Bariyari were left unheard and a vast multitude of people left to their fate.
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In the initial first hour the rescued people were sent to the hospital. The search for Javed's sister-in law and grandmother was on as they were nowhere to be seen. It was around 3 pm in the afternoon, that his sister-in-law's body was found. She was only 24 years old and recently married. "They were able to find my grandmother's body next day at 4 pm. My wife fractured her backbone in this tragedy and my niece, Nagina Bi, who is just twelve years old, lost her leg. Other members were badly injured" Javed grieves silently.
Javed's family had to borrow around Rs 90,000 from other villagers for the treatment of their injured family members. His family has got a compensation of 3 lakh from the government for his three deceased family members. He adds "This appears like a minimal amount since other family members got badly injured and my niece ended up losing her limb. We need to start all over again from scratch."
Immediately after the floods Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had announced Rs 1,000 cr for special assistance to Jammu and Kashmir. The Prime Minister had also said that Rs 2 lakh will be provided to the next of kin of each person whose life has been lost in this calamity and Rs 50,000 would be provided to each seriously injured out of the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.
Few days back the Prime Minister again visited the state on Diwali and he announced an additional relief package of Rs 745 crore for rebuilding of damaged schools and hospitals in the flood affected state.
"The thought of how my niece will start her life, shivers me to the core. She is young, she has to do a lot in life." narrates Javed. Nagina came under the wooden log, and the roof tin cut her leg due to which her leg had to be amputated. She has not been able to go to school . The terrain is hilly and difficult; it's next to impossible for her to move in crutches.
For children like Nagina an uncertain future awaits. Will she be able to study any further? What kind of life will she have? The Government should provide utmost care for children like Nagina. The Charkha Development Communication Network feels that we need to push, motivate and fan their inner flames to look after themselves . We need to ensure they have a safe and secure future. (The views expressed in the article are of Basharat, who is a final year student at Govt. Degree College, Poonch ) By Basharat Hussain Shah Bukhari.