Reaching the Unreached_J&K report

1

‘REACHING THE UNREACHED’

(Comprehnsive Study of J&K Flood Relief and RescueOperation)

(October – November 2014)

Study Conducted by: Indian Social Responsibility Network

Under the Guidance of: Public Policy Research Centre

J&K Flood- 2014

2

Editorial

UNDER THE PRECIOUS GUIDANCE OF

Dr Vinay Sahsrabuddhe

Director General, PPRC

CONCIEVED BY

Santosh Gupta, CEO, ISRN

COMPILED BY

Deepti Tripathi, Program Officer, ISRN

Rajan Kalsotra, Social Development

Professional

J&K Flood- 2014

3

1. An overview

In September 2014, incessant rains in the catchment

areas of Jammu and Kashmir starting from 01 Sep to

07 Sep 2014 resulted in unprecedented floods in most

parts of J&K. Urban floods of the magnitude as faced

by J&K has not been experienced anywhere in the

country in recent history. Due to continuous rainfall

(01 Sep to 07 Sep), severe damage to life and property

was caused in several locations in different parts of

Jammu & Kashmir.

On September 3, a border security officer and five others were killed in landslides and flash

floods triggered by heavy rain the Jammu region. The Jammu and Kashmir government

sounded a flood alert for the state on September 4 after three days of incessant rain had

flooded 23 villages. By September 7th, many people had lost their lives and most of the parts

of the Kashmir valley were submerged under the water. The total deaths caused by these

floods are estimated to be 282 (91 –Kashmir region + 191 – Jammu region). Prime Minister

Shri Narendra Modi visited the state on September 7th and declared J&K floods as “national-

level disaster”. He also announced Rs. 1,000-crore assistance in addition to Rs. 1,100 crore

which was made available to the State government through the State Disaster Relief Fund.In

addition to this, PM Shri Narendra Modi visited J&K on October 23 and celebrated the

festival of lights ‘Diwali’ with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. People of J&K were

shattered after the floods but this visit of Prime Minister gave them a sense of relief and

motivated them.

Intense rainfall has caused flash flooding, landslides and widespread flooding in the Kashmir

Valley. Flood waters breached embankments in many low-lying areas in Kashmir, including

the capital Srinagar, forcing people to move to safer places. The Jhelum River, Chenab and

many other streams were flowing above danger mark. More than 60% of Srinagar City was

submerged. Commercial Centre in and around LalChowk, State Secretariat, posh tourist and

residential areas were completely inundated. Many people are still stranded in various parts

of state. More than 5000 villages have been affected by these floods and around 740 villages

were submerged under water. Approximately 22 Lakh people were affected/ displaced in

Kashmir Valley. Army Camps and establishments were equally affected with more than 50%

of BadamiBagh Cantonment, HQs of Chinar Corps at Srinagar submerged under flood

waters. Several Company Operating Bases and Sector HQs at Khanabal were fully

inundated. The worst affected districts are Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla, Pulwama,

Ganderbal, Kulgam, Budgam, Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi.

Links of valley to the rest of the country were restored after being cut off for more than a

week. 300-km- long national highway was closed to vehicular traffic from the 7th of

September as a result of landslides and floods. As many as 60 major and minor roads have

been cut off and over 30 bridges washed away, hampering the relief and rescue operations.

J&K Flood- 2014

4

Except for connectivity between Srinagar and north Kashmir's Ganderbal district, all other

districts of the valley - including Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Badgam,

Baramullaand Bandipora - were cut off. BSNL Exchange and Mobile Communication were

totally blacked out and entire Power Supply Grid in South Kashmir and Srinagar was

disrupted.

Landslides and inundation have also caused major damage to crops and orchards apart from

damaging the irrigation and water supply system. Livestock, the lone source of livelihood, of

many nomadic communities residing in the upper reaches has been washed away. The

floods have literally taken away everything livelihood, homes and for some even their

families.

2. Objective of study

The rationale behind this study is to appraise the relief and rescue operation carried out by

various agencies related to J&K floods. The objectives are:

i. To assess the Relief and Rescue operation executed by the State and Central

government and others such as Non Government organizations and Local

communities for 2014 J&K floods.

ii. Recommend areas of high priority for emergency preparation and recovery plan to

government and development stakeholders.

3. Methodology

The methodology adopted for the study involves:

i. Data Analysis: Secondary data provided by State and Central government and

various other agencies from flood affected districts of J&K, related to rescue and

rehabilitation, were compiled and analysed.

ii. Interviews: Personal Interviews of State and Central government officials were

conducted by our field survey team and their responses were compiled and

analysed.

iii. Local People Response: Responses of the local people were also taken into

consideration for the study.

4. Background

The State of Jammu and Kashmir has a long history of natural disasters. The State has

witnessed many natural disasters especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Owing to

J&K Flood- 2014

5

its peculiar topography, rugged terrain, extreme weather conditions and underdeveloped

economy, the State has suffered a lot on

account of natural disasters. Hazards like

earthquakes, floods, fires, droughts, avalanches

and landslides often convert into disasters

leading to loss of human lives as well as public

and private property. Enhanced vulnerabilities

of the built environment make the State highly

prone to natural disasters.

The state is a multi hazard prone region with

natural disasters like earthquakes, floods,

landslides, avalanches, high velocity winds, snow storms, besides manmade disasters

including road accidents and fires etc. Human activities disturbing the ecological balance in

most of the case directly results in disastrous event or exacerbates the natural disaster.

In September 2014, due to excessive rains four rivers namely Vaishav, Sandran, Lidder and

Brengi which are the main tributries of Jhelum River, overflowed causing increase in water

level of river Jhelum and it flooded most parts of the Kashmir valley. In the same way,

Jammu region got affected due to overflow of various rivers like Tawi, Chenab,

SuranPoonch, UII and Basantar. Initially the Districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and

Kulgam in Kashmir Province and Districts of Poonch, Reasi and Rajouri in Jammu province

got affected on 3rd and 4th of September 2014. But afterwards, almost all the districts of

Jammu and Kashmir got affected. The effect of floods in southern Kashmir remained for

more than a week whereas the Srinagar city was the worst effected and remained

submerged for more than three weeks.

i. Previous flood Disasters in Jammu & Kashmir

5. Apparent Reasons for 2014 J&K Floods

Like any other city of India, Kashmir particularly Srinagar has expanded at a rapid rate giving

itself big houses, malls, shopping complexes etc and this all has been possible by

Leh cloud burst &

flash flood (2010)

•More than 9000 people directly affected

•More than 250 causalities

•200 people missing

Cloud Burst at Doda

(June2011)

•More than 100 casualties

Kashmir Flood (2014)

•10 districts & 5642 villages affected

•1.94 directly affected

•10 Lac indirectly affected

J&K Flood- 2014

6

encroachment upon water bodies with least realization of its future consequences. It’s a

well established fact that Kashmir has a natural tendency of floods due to its peculiar

topography. The valley is like a bowl in which five river basins- Lidder, vaishav, Jhelum,

Sindh and Rambiara – discharge their water. Srinagar once had the network of flood sinks,

canals, flood channels, lagoons, lakes etc – that served lot of purposes from easy navigation

to beauty of the city. But the real purpose of these water bodies was to regulate waters that

would often flood Kashmir and particularly save Srinagar city. The ignorance of this fact by

state government in past three decades is what resulted in this catastrophe.

The BNHS report says the Dal Lake in Srinagar has suffered due to reclamations all along its

periphery in the marshy areas. The lake area is just 1,200 Hectares now, almost half of its

earlier spread. The Wular Lake and its surrounding marshes- have been reduced from 20,200

Hectares to mere 2,400 hectares now. Report also highlights that rapid rate of extinction of

Kashmir has been one of the prominent reasons for floods in past. Studies have shown that

in last three decades, nearly 50% of the wetlands in the Kashmir valley have been

encroached upon.

6. Lack of Preparedness by State Government

The study of data between 1950 and 2000 shows that the incidence of heavy and very heavy

rainfall (more than 100 mm and 150 mm/ a day) had increased and moderate rainfall

decreased despite this Jammu and Kashmir does not have a flood forecasting system, not

even a separate disaster management plan. The worst floods in Jammu and Kashmir in the

past 60 years and the subsequent devastation are due to a combination of unprecedented

and intense rain, mismanagement, unplanned urbanisation and a lack of preparedness. In

2004, a remote sensing data-based study of Jammu and Kashmir showed that 55 per cent of

wetlands, drainage channels and water bodies had been encroached upon Jammu and

Kashmir has an intricate system of water management. The lake areas had diminished, the

holding capacity of many water bodies had gone down, and houses are built in places they

should never have been.

In the case of Sep. 2014 floods even authorities in the state ignored warnings from

weathermen, magnifying a disaster waiting to happen. The meteorological department said

it had issued warnings about very heavy rainfall in Jammu and Kashmir practically every day

since September 2 but the state government seems to have failed to anticipate the extent of

the crisis and effectively convince those who stayed back.

Dwelling into the reasons of flood as mentioned above it becomes evidently clear that lack

of preparedness and response from state government has magnified the magnitude of flood

impact on citizens and the city. There had been serious ignorance, unpreparedness and

breach of Disaster management guidelines by the state government, which resulted in such

catastrophe. In summary major negligence by state government which could have

prevented such huge impact of flood on lives of citizens of J&K are:-

J&K Flood- 2014

7

No proper implementation of clauses of DM act 2005.

Despite the fact J&K comes in seismic zone 5 and is prone to floods due to its topology,

no hazard &vulnerability assessments have been done from several years.

No mock drills conducted of Disaster Management personals carried out by the State

government from a long time.

No structured Standard Operating Procedures has been laid down by the government

for countering disasters.

Ignorance to early warning systems.

Unregulated encroachments.

Limited/Inappropriate stock of relief material.

7. Statistics of Flood Affected Areas

The names of worst affected districts due to floods are Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla,

Pulwama, Ganderbal, Kulgam, Budgam, Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi and less affected are

Udhampur, Jammu, Kisthwar, Doda, Kathua, Ramban, Shopian, Kupwara, Samba and

Bandipora.

Areas Affected

No. of Villages Affected

=5743

No. of Villages submerged

=741

No. of Families Affected

= 1522796

No. of Districts Affected

=20

J&K Flood- 2014

8

i. Total Infrastructural losses

ii. No. of victims: Death/Injury

8. Rescue and Relief Operation

Rescue and Relief operations were carried out by Central and State government with the

help of Army, Indian Navy, Air force, NDRF and SDRF. Various other agencies were also

involved in the relief and rescue operations such as

NGO’s, Social Groups and Local Communities.

Summary of the relief and rescue operation is given

below:

Total Infrastructure

Losses

No. of Health Institutions affected =

110

No. of School Affected =

2543

Roads Damaged (kms) =

6951

No. of Bridges Damaged =

559

No. of Cattle Loss =

94074

No. of Houses

Damaged =

255000

Agricultural Land Affected

(ha) =

661110

• 282No. of People Died

• 383No. of People Injured

J&K Flood- 2014

9

Deployment of Indian Army, IAF, Central Forces for search and rescue operations

Army, IAF, Navy, NDRF personnel were engaged in rescue & relief operations.

More than 2.90 lakh persons were rescued to safer places.

2.92 lakh people were evacuated by all agencies to safer places.

About 2.14 lakh people were rescued by the armed forces.

50,815 persons were rescued by NDRF teams, while 27,420 persons were rescued by CRPF.

Army deployed 329 columns (approx. 30,000 troops) along with 224 BAUTS/ boats.

Maximum number of 30 transports aircraft and 53 helicopters deployed by the Indian Air Force. Army has also deployed 17 helicopters.

Three teams of MARCOS of Indian Navy were deployed.

15 engineers Task Force of Indian Army were deployed with necessary engineer stores and equipments.

22 teams of NDRF consisting of 955 personnel along with the necessary equipment were deployed for assisting State Government in search and rescue operations.

During the period 06-9-14 to 25-09-2014, more than 3000 air sorties were done by Indian Air Force/ Army

Relief Operations Essential commodities including food packets air dropped and 167,300 blankets and 4226 tents were sent by the Central Government.

4500.25 tons material including 1492.4 tons food/ready food packets etc., 605 tons water, 1,31,500 food packets given by IAF.

Army established 6 relief camps in Kashmir Valley and 13 camps in Jammu division, while Indian Red Cross Society supplied 1664 tents, in addition to the 750 tarpaulins and 1000 Kitchen sets.

17 dewatering pumps were despatched to Srinagar for use by the State Government.

Food During the month of September 2014, State Government of J & K lifted 43873 tons rice and 997 tons wheat for distribution under PDS/ floods relief in Kashmir Division.

State Government has sanctioned six months free ration to the effected families.

Drinking Water

28 water purification plants having a total capacity of purifying around 6 lakh litres per day were airlifted and handed over to the State Government.

Medical Help

Oxygen Cylinders sent by Army: 1.2 lakh lits (4x24000 ltr, 50x1246 ltr, 50x623 ltr), Mobile oxygen generation plant sent by Army: 30x945 ltrcyl.

23 types of medicines including ORS, IV fluid, paracetamol syrup, anti-pyretics, anti-diarrhoeal, antibiotics and anti-spasmodic, etc, were sent, in addition to chlorine tablets, vaccines, bleaching powders

J&K Flood- 2014

10

51 Specialist doctors (22 Physicians, 13Pediatricians,10 Gynecologists& 6 Anesthetists) deployed

500 kg of Malathion (decomposer) were sent. 100 PPE supplied.

Power and Roads

Power supply has been restored in all Hospitals (Govt. and Pvt.), water supply stations, and relief camps

All damaged 17 nos of 33/11 kV Substations in Jammu were restored. Out of 36 damaged 33/11 kV substations in Kashmir, 34 substations were restored.

5,700 personnel of the Border Roads Organization have been pressed

into service to repair road infrastructure.

i. Financial assistance to the State

After the visit of the affected areas in the State, the Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi announced an additional special project assistance of Rs. 1000 crore by the Union Government to the State for flood relief and rehabilitation. Accordingly, the Ministry of Finance has released Rs. 1000 cr. on 22.10.2014 as a grant of Special Project Assistance under Special Plan Assistance (SPA) announced by the Hon'ble Prime Minister on 07.09.2014 for flood relief and rehabilitation in the wake of floods in the State of Jammu and Kashmir for the State's Annual Plan 2014-15.

The Prime Minister also announced an immediate relief of Rs.570 crore for rebuilding of damaged homes and Rs.175 crore for similarly affected hospitals in the state from the Prime Minister National Relief Fund.

The Prime Minister also announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs. 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000/ each to persons who is grievously injured from the Prime Minster Relief Fund.

The State Government has Rs. 1105.6 crore available in their SDRF for meeting the expenditure for rescue and relief works. Further, an amount of Rs. 94.33 cr, the central contribution for 2ndinstallment of SDRF share, which was due for release in December 2014, was released on 05.11.2014.

ii. Other financial Aid

USAID has allocated $250,000 through the local Embassy to Care, Plan and Save the

Children.

Gates Foundation has also allocated $700,000 to the response.

Wells Fargo Donates $100000 for J&K Flood Relief Efforts in India.

Maruti Suzuki India and its employees contributedRs 2 crore to the Prime Minister's

National Relief Fund to help victims of flood in Jammu and Kashmir

J&K Flood- 2014

11

Bajaj Auto donated Rs. 20 cr for J&K flood relief

Canara Bank donated Rs 5.67 crore to Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for

rescue and relief operations in flood-ravaged Jammu & Kashmir.

iii. Relief & Rescue Response by Indian Army

Withoutawaiting any formal request or requisition, the Army acted immediately

utilizing its deployment grid across the Kashmir

Valley and its inherent capabilities thus emerging as

the first responders to the crisis. The immediate

response by the Army followed by other agencies

ensured minimal loss of lives, given the scale of the

disaster.The Armed Forces humanitarian assistance

mission, in response to J and K floods 2014 was

named Mission Sahayata (assistances). Northern Command humanitarian assistance

in response to J&K floods 2014 to civil authorities in J&K was named 'Operation

MEGH RAHAT’. Specific Army actions are given below:-

61,122 civilians were rescued by the Army. Of these 40,200 were rescued from

Srinagar City alone.

857 civilians (25 critical casualties) were evacuated by Army helicopters.

Approx 200 patients including new born babies from GB Pant Hospital were

managed in 92 Base Hospital.

Medical aid was provided to approximately 85,000 civilians.

1240 million litres of water was pumped out of BadamiBagh Cantonment using

93 water pumps.

Following relief material was delivered to approx 1.75 Lakh affected people:-

Rations - 83 Tonnes

Water - 85 Tonnes

Fuel - 2.5 Tonnes

Medicines- 12 Tonnes

Tents- 580

Blankets- 7000

Restoration of National Highway 44 by the Border Roads Organisation and of the

road Srinagar to Pulwama by Chinar Corps Engineer resources.

Thousands of metric tons of garbage was removed from the inundated areas and

clogged drains in the Cantonment areas. Approximately 10,000 Litres of

disinfectant was sprayed.

Imminent threat of post flood diseases/ epidemic was prevented.

J&K Flood- 2014

12

Numerous Medical & Veterinary Camps and Blood Donation Camps were

conducted by the Army. Over 15,000 animals were treated and approx 1300

units of blood were donated by the soldiers.

Assistance was provided in revival ofBSNL Exchange.

Assistance provided to the Damage Assessment Teams.

Army Satellite and Mobile Communication was provided to the State

Government, NDRF and other agencies to facilitate coordination.

Assistance in reactivation of All India Radio (AIR) and use as a unique and

effective tool to communicate with the marooned residents during floods.

Constant advice to the State Government and Central Government agencies on

disaster relief operations.

Regular situational updates to all agencies and facilitating personnel from other

Departments to reach inaccessible areas.

iv. Contribution of RashtriyaSwayamSevakSangh, Bharatiya Janata Party and other

affiliated organizations

Karyakartas of RSS, BJP and other affiliatedorganisations carried out relief operations

in all the three regions of the state — Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.Hundreds of

Karyakartas worked day & night to rescue thousands

of people trapped, arranging the last rites of the dead,

building temporary shelter for the homeless,

distributing blankets & warm clothes, arranging

langars, milk for children, medical aid etc. The RSS

workers rescued about 3,885 persons during the time

of floods. Delhi BJP MLAs and councillors donated

their one month salary and allowances to the Prime

Minister's disaster relief fund for the help of Jammu

Kashmir flood victims.Delhi BJP also dispatched a trucks with 5000 blankets, 200

tents, rice, pulses and other food items and a batch of doctors were also send along

with vehicles full of medicines for J&K flood victims.To provide relief material to the

flood affected areas of the State, ten trucks carrying Blankets, Sheets, Eatables and

other necessities were sent to Katra, Udhampur, Kalakote, Nowshera, Sunderbani,

Samba, Raipur Domana, Marh, Khour and Akhnoor areas of Jammu Province by J&K

BJP unit.

9. Lessons learned

It becomes easier for us to understand the things in hindsight. We can never change what

has already happened but we can learn from the past and can make better decisions to

prevent this kind of disasters in the future.

J&K Flood- 2014

13

It is always difficult to carry out the relief and rescue operation in the hilly areas as

compared to the plains during the time of floods. This is because floods in the hilly areas are

accompanied by landslides which severely interrupt transportation and mobility. Mobilising

local response immediately becomes extremely complicated, as most of the first responders

including police, fire and health personnel themselves get affected. We have experienced

this at the time of J&K floods, when whole state machinery got disabled due to the lack of

communication and accessibility.Many lessons need to be learned, if the impact of

thesekind of disasters to be reduced.

i. Improvement of Early Warning Systems

There is an urgent need for the improvement of early warning systems for floods.

First the basic systems for measuring rainfall and water discharge are required, which

can be used for real time flood forecasting. This provides real-time information on

actual rainfall across a wide area. Second, we need a precipitation measurement

system through a network of weather radars that is increasingly being used across the

world to provide a more precise description of the precipitation field. The third

measurement system is based on an analysis of clouds, the images of which are

provided by geo-stationary satellites on a continual basis. These components of early

warning systems provide measurements independently of each other, but together

they create a strong system to improve the timeliness and precision of the flood

forecasting system.

ii. Effective Drainage System

Because of the absence of effective drainage system, authorities have to use water

pumps to drain the water out.Drainage system needs a complete overhaul. Not, only

there is a requirement of an effective drainage system, but there is also a need for the

flood spill channels in the Valley that are free from any encroachments and handle

the kind of water discharge as witnessed during the recent floods.

iii. Removal of Encroachmentsand Conservation of Wetlands

Along with this, we also need many supplementary measures for hilly areas. Wetlands

in the hilly areas act as a natural reservoir for the runoff from mountains and prevent

flooding. Many lakes in the Kashmir valley such as Dal, Anchar and Wular contribute

to water storage and act as water regulator. There are at least seven wetlands in J&K

and Himachal Pradesh that are considered to be of international importance under

the Ramsar Convention. It is a fact that today many of these wetlands are facing

serious threats of encroachment and pollution and they need to be protected and

conserved through specific legislation and other regulatory measures.

iv. FormulationofImmediate Response Strategy

There is also a need to formulate animmediate response strategy for disasters in hilly

areas. In the case of 2013 Uttarakhand floods,Lehflash floods and the recent J&K

floods, the instant response was organized with the support of the Armed Forces and

the National Disaster Response Force, which have evacuated a large number of

J&K Flood- 2014

14

people in recent floods.However, from all these recent disasters we have learned that

these arrangements cannot be a replacement for district-level responders who would

be far more effective, given their immediate presence on the ground and familiarity

with the terrain. So investing in first response capacity at the district level should be

an immediate state priority.

Floods cannot be fully controlled or stopped but the human and economic losses can be

undeniably reduced by implementing these measures.

10. Way forward/ Recommendations

The way to minimize the impact of the disasters is to prepare for it and preparing for a disaster does not just mean putting in place early warning systems and protocols for evacuations. Preparedness is fundamental to the way we plan and do development. There are some recommendations in this regard which are as follows:

i. State Government should take steps in stopping the encroachment on wetlands, lakes

and other water bodies in the state and stringent laws should be in place to protect the

urban water bodies etc. Also keep a check on deforestation.

ii. A complete and effective early warning system shall betherewhich includes risk analysis,

monitoring and warning (rainfall prediction& flood forecasting system), dissemination

and communication (Control Rooms) and a response capability.

iii. Review of existing Hazard and Vulnerability assessment should be carried out by the state government as soon as possible.

iv. Resource and GIS mapping shall be carried out in prolongation of Disaster Management plan and as per the recommendations a follow up action plan should be made.

v. Disaster management plans up to Tehsil level should be made with immediate effect.State Disaster Management Plans shall be approved by State Government and National Disaster Management Plans shall be approved by Central Government ASAP.

vi. To check the preparedness of various agencies involved in disaster management,Mock

Drills of diversified scenario shall be regularlycarried out.

vii. Mitigation and Preparedness step should be taken as soon as possible.

viii. Regular training programmes shall be carried out for emergency support functionaries.

ix. New government should expedite the relief operations and finish off all operations in a time bound manner.

x. Rehabilitation and reconstruction shall be carried out in next three years.

J&K Flood- 2014

15

xi. Kutch and Bhujmodel can be taken into consideration for the planning of rehabilitation.

xii. Special financial package shall be announced for the benefit of business community for the revival of the economy of the state, as there is no provision under the SDRF to provide any assistance.

xiii. Special financial package shall also be announced for the Artisans community, as they have also suffered huge amount of losses.

11. References

i. Ministry of Home Affaire, Government of India.

ii. Ministery of Defence, Government of India

iii. www.pib.nic.in

iv. http://www.sphereindia.org.in/Download/23.09.2014%20J&K%20Floods%20Assessment%20

Report%20Version%20II.pdf

v. http://www.asianage.com/india/rss-puts-ball-pm-narendra-modi-s-court-767 vi. http://www.firstpost.com/politics/kashmir-floods-delhi-bjp-mlas-donate-one-months-salary-

relief-fund-1710087.html vii. http://www.jkbjp.in/bjp-sends-ten-trucks-to-flood-prone-areas-of-jammu-region/

viii. http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Lessons-From-Kashmir-Floods/292523

ix. http://post.jagran.com/jk-floods-valley-residents-seek-improved-drainage-system-

1412068221

x. http://pragya.org/doc/Assessment_Report.pdf