Army rescues 11,000 persons, intensifies mission Sahayata

A total of 11000 civilians have been rescued, out of which 2,000 have been provided food and temporary shelters.

A total of 11000 civilians have been rescued, out of which 2,000 have been provided food and temporary shelters.

HT Image

In view of the worsening flood situation in Kashmir and inundation of hundreds of villages, army has intensified mission Sahayata employing more than 60 army columns and 13 engineer teams tirelessly working to rescue precious lives trapped in flooded villages, isolated houses and multi-storied buildings in the inundated areas all over Kashmir. As the number of shelterless people is rising, army is also providing tented accommodation to hundreds of people.

Major flood rescue operations started on September 2, however, with increasing involvement, Mission Sahayata was launched to cover areas in the entire Valley. On September 2, a youth was rescued from the Sindh river at Watalbagh village in Ganderbal.

By September 4, eight major columns were employed for rescuing large number of families trapped in the inundated areas. Over 400 people were taken to safety. In addition to these, large numbers of people were assisted to relocate themselves, many vehicles stuck inside water were recovered and food packets were distributed.

By September 5, there were 70 major columns and 12 engineer teams operating in Kashmir and by the night over 5000 precious lives had been moved to safety.

On Saturday, a column of army operating at Kakapora in Pulwama district itself came under floods. While moving on a boat carrying 11 army personnel got capsized and the jawans got stranded. A helicopter-based rescue mission was launched to rescue the stranded personnel, however, bad weather prevented execution of the mission and finally boats were used to reach. Till making of this report two soldiers were still stranded in the area. Such is the situation in certain areas of Kashmir that hundreds of families that moved into upper stories of their houses due to inundation of ground floor, are yet to be reached. Joint Control Room and helpline centres have been established by army in Kashmir. Bad weather, not allowing employment of helicopters, is further affecting the rescue mission.

Also on Saturday, on a request of the civil administration, army is providing 50 tents in the Noorbagh area of Safakadal to accommodate hundreds of people stranded due to the floods.