Biting cold adds to woes of flood victims

As ‘Chillai-Kalan’ begins in Valley, flood victims who have been rendered homeless are craving for help to brave the cold in the 40-day harshest period of winter.
Many families whose houses collapsed in the September floods are still living in rented accommodations without proper heating arrangements.
“Many have taken shelter in the houses of their relatives while the rest are putting up in rented rooms. We didn’t receive any help from the authorities,” said Muneer Ahmad, a resident of Shutrashahi.
“In our locality we have around 60 houses out of which only 11 houses are in a condition to live in, rest of the houses are either being repaired or left unattended,” he added.
The residents of Shutrashahi said it was getting difficult for them to survive the harsh cold in absence of proper arrangements. “What will we do in this cold? Chilai Kalan has begun and it is going to snow in few days. The authorities should make immediate arrangements for us,” they said.
Rafiq Ahmad of Bemina told us many families in the area have taken shelter in shops and tin sheds.
“Earlier, families were living in tents but as the cold has intensified they have now taken shelter in shops and tin sheds. People are suffering but authorities are in slumber,” he said.
Adding to their agony, people in the area are complaining of frequent power cuts for last one month. “We have children and elderly people to look after in this biting cold, frequent power cuts have made things worse for us,” the residents said.
Despite several requests to the officials of Power Development Department, they alleged the authorities are not paying heed to their grievances.
“We went to the office of JE but he categorically told us to sign the new agreement with a fee of Rs 1400 per month to get uninterrupted power supply,” locals alleged.
PDD announced respite from unscheduled power cuts on Thursday, saying no new curtailment schedule would be implemented in Kashmir during winters.
In Bemina, Firdousabad Colony, Boatman Colony, Hamdania Colony, Mandi Colony and its adjoining areas were the worst-affected areas in the floods.
The situation is no different in Mandir Bagh area of Maisuma. “Around 30 houses collapsed here. The displaced families are either living in rented houses or have shifted to relatives’ houses. We can no longer live in the tents in this cold,” said Sameer Ahmad, a local resident.
Sameer said no official visited the area to enquire about the problems faced by the flood victims.
“Apart from Mirwaiz Umar Farooq nobody took pains to address our problems. Umar Sahab is reconstructing five houses in the area,” he added.
On December 10, the court had asked the state government to provide shelter sheds to the flood-hit families within a week. The court had also granted one more week to the union government to file its response on details of flood victims furnished by the state government.
Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Farooq Ahmad Shah said they have already allotted Rs 20,000 as a rent to the families for next four months whose houses were completely collapsed in the floods.
“We are paying Rs 5000 per month for each flood affected family and first three months have been paid in advance while the rest will be paid later,” said Shah.