Floods in J&K: Need to Introspect

On 01 September, heavy rainfall lashed the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Such rainfall has been experienced in the past and was therefore not unusual. However, with rainfall persisting over the next few days, the plains areas in both the Jammu and Kashmir Divisions flooded in a manner the likes of which have not been experienced over the last six decades. In Kashmir, the Jhelum breached its banks further submerging the area. India’s meteorological department had forecasted heavy rains in Kashmir for the first week of September, but flood warnings were not issued by the Central Water Commission. When floods struck, the state was caught off guard.

Over the last two weeks, the death toll in floods has mounted steadily. No clear estimate is available of the destruction caused to property, with some analysts placing it in excess of a billion USD. The Armed forces, as always, stepped in immediately to assist in the rescue efforts, appropriately called ‘Operation Megh Rahat’.

The Army has employed 220 columns for Op Megh Rahat, the total force deployed being in the region of about 30,000 personnel of which 21,000 are deployed in Kashmir Division and the remaining 9000 in Jammu Division. Eighty-four transport aircrafts and helicopters of the Indian Air Force and Army Aviation Corps have been pressed into service and so far, over a thousand sorties have been undertaken to evacuate people and provide relief supplies. A total of 224 boats of the Army and 148 inflatable boats of NDRF are involved in the rescue operations and 19 relief camps in Srinagar and Jammu region have been established. Army columns in boats have fanned out across the state to provide succour to the needy and rescued over 130,000 people so far. Relief efforts include providing bottled water, food packets, medicines, blankets and tents. Many people are however reluctant to leave their homes to protect their property. They are being provided food and water in situ.[i]

The Army is also operating medical services, with four field hospitals established in Avantipur, Pattan, Anantnag and Old Airfield. Here, over 21,500 people have been treated for various ailments. Aid from across the country flowing in to J&K is being coordinated and distributed by the Armed Forces in a herculean effort to provide succour and comfort to the flood affected people. Road communications have been restored in some areas and communication equipment of the Department of Telecommunication, Army, BSNL and some private companies is being sent to restore the communication systems in the state.[ii]

While the Armed Forces have pressed all their energy into disaster relief operations, some residents of Kashmir have vented their wrath on the state administrators, accusing them of failing to provide them with help after the worst flooding in over a century, and angrily dumped food parcels into gutters.[iii] Most areas are still under water, and many people remain trapped in their homes. Angst is caused by a perception in sections of the society that relief is being selectively provided. While the facts on the ground belie such claims, it is not always possible to convince the affected that their turn too will come.

The absence of separatists in the rescue effort has led to a dwindling of their support base. To recover some of that, the separatists are making a desperate attempt to discredit the outstanding work of the Army by stating that they are only doing what is mandated by the Government for disaster relief and that the Army is only doing relief for their own purpose to ‘win hearts and minds’ as part of their operational plans. This obviously has few takers as the Army performs selflessly in all disaster-hit areas, but the separatist leaders have little else to fall back upon. There is also a visible resentment in the public against what is perceived as the complete absence of their local government and police in the wake of the disaster. Local officials admit that the government is crippled and most departments are defunct.[iv] As the state is due for elections later in the year, relief efforts too are unfortunately being politicised adding further to the problem. Stone pelting on Army personnel providing relief, though isolated, is symptomatic of this larger malaise.

The Armed Forces, yet again, have risen to the occasion and are playing a stellar role in providing relief and succour. However, on a wider plane, three aspects need urgent attention.

First, the state administration was aware of the possibility of the low lying areas being subject to floods in case of heavy rains. Yet, they failed to take preventive action, not just prior to tragedy striking, in terms of warnings and evacuation of the affected population, but more importantly, taking preventing measures over the last few decades. These need to be initiated now on a war footing to prevent recurrence. Plans already exist in the state department. They need quick implementation.

Second, disaster relief operations in a country the size of India, will always have the Armed Forces as the first respondents, primarily because the Armed Forces are deployed in such areas and they have the requisite leadership, skill and resources to act in a quick time frame. Their role in providing succour on occurrence of major disasters must be institutionalised as first respondents and all relief efforts coordinated through them. Even the NDMA needs to be suitably reorganised and must be suitably staffed and led by service personnel. For natural calamities of lesser scale, the state should utilise its own resources. The task of rebuilding the lives of the people post the disaster must however rest with the state government, as the Armed Forces need to be withdrawn at the earliest in the stabilisation phase.

Lastly is the aspect of Perception Management. The print and visual media have covered the operations in a credible manner and the Armed Forces have received justifiable accolades. However, there is a tendency among some to use flood relief as a stick to beat the local Kashmiri population, comparing the role of some locals in supporting insurgency and contrasting it with the selfless help being provided by the Armed Forces. This creates an unnecessary ‘Us Versus Them’ paradigm, which does no good in restoring the confidence of the people. Such activities are difficult to control in the social media but must be challenged by all right thinking people to mitigate such effects. The militants and terrorists are down but not out. Their space to operate in the public mind space must not be given reasons to expand.

Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch is the Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies.