Amidst the devastation caused by the worst floods in six decades, the District Commissioner of Rajouri District, Salim Malik, has reassured the people that all efforts will be made to rehabilitate them.
Malik said, "Here, in District Rajouri, the heavy rains have caused lot of damage. In many villages almost all the houses have been damaged. We have shifted people to alternative safe locations like government schools and Panchayat House."
"Sixty three people have lost their lives in a vehicle accident while 23 other deaths have been reported from other parts of the district due to flood and rain. The district administration is trying its best to rehabilitate people. The essential commodities that we got from the Red Cross have been distributed to Tehsildars to further distribute them to people," he added.
Even though the water has started to recede in many areas, tens of thousands are still stranded waiting to be rescued by rescue workers. Many of these are people from other parts of the country and had come to visit Jammu and Kashmir as tourists. People in large numbers have gathered at the Nehru Helipad in Srinagar to be airlifted to safe locations.
Waiting with his family at Nehru Helipad to return home, Rajat Khanna from Delhi said, "I came here on September 3 with the family and its started raining a day after we arrived here. To come here from the hotel where we were staying, I had to walk in shoulder deep water with my kids on my shoulder for three kilometers."
An elderly gentleman from Pune said, "We are here since 10 in the morning, we were standing in the queue to get in. We have come from Pune."
Earlier, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah termed the situation as serious as lakhs of people are still stranded in flood waters.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had visited Jammu and Kashmir for a first-hand assessment of the situation arising out of incessant rain and floods in the state, and announced an extra Rs 1,000 crore on top of the earlier announced Rs 1,100 crores as special assistance for rehabilitation, while sharing his pain and anguish over the plight of the people of the state.
