Srinagar: Kashmiris have been known for their warmth and the grace with which they welcome guests. In tragedy they have proved the goodwill with which most of them live.
Amitabh Mattoo spoke of the good Samaritans he met while wading through waist-deep water with his parents in Srinagar. The Director of the Australia-India Institute at the University of Melbourne found himself stuck inside his home, even as the water rose.
The floods in Jammu and Kashmir have so far left almost 180 dead.
Social networking sites bare witness to people’s desperation to connect with their loved ones. With mobile networks down, strangers offered to take calls from anxious relatives.
Twitter has also gone abuzz on the rescue operations and where to locate the people displaced by the natural calamity.
Earlier, young students of Kashmir University opened the gates to accommodate hundreds of displaced refugees who had to leave their homes as flood waters grew.
On Saturday the devastation began. In one account a Waqar Ahmed Dar of Rajbagh said water came in breaking the walls and splashing into the house. “We did not know whether to run upstairs or run through the waters in darkness,†said Dar.
“We thought we were safe on the second floor but the water rose endlessly. We waited for someone to rescue us. Cell phones were not working. We shouted to our neighbours but they too were stranded on the top floors of their houses.â€
Eventually, a group of youths on two makeshift rafts made of tyre tubes and wood planks rescued him and three others of his family. “While these angels were taking us out, dozens of other stranded people were shouting. They wanted to save everyone but did not have proper boats.â€
Till now around 42,000 people have been rescued, continuing with rescue efforts, 60 medical teams deployed across J&K.