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| Blizzards blow into emergency, over 16 dead, many trapped | | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Feb 8
The snow fall which began as an incessant normal routine and then turned into blizzards has not blown into a full state of emergency with more than 16 people buried alive and still many more trapped under avalanches. Those missing or trapped under avalanches are though being searched by the rescue teams but chances of their survival are bleak, said officials associated with the rescue operation.
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today convened an emergency meeting of Ministers and officers to discuss the situation arising out of the snowfall. Chief Secretary BR Kundal also chaired a meeting of the Disaster Management Authority and sanctioned Rs seven Crores to meet the exigency.
Reports pouring in from different parts of state said that at least sixteen persons were buried in avalanches today that hit villages along the national highway in Jammu and Kashmir while security forces rescued 46 people, including a small girl, amid blizzards and heavy snow.
Six persons, including three woman and a girl, were killed when an avalanche struck three houses in Baskanmasta village of Banihal block in Ramban district, Doda range Deputy Inspector-General of Police Farooq Khan said. He said a police team found six bodies while a three-and- a-half-year-old girl of the family, Babli, was rescued alive after digging through the snow.
The second major incident took place in Kapran area of Anantnag district where six members of a family were feared dead as their house collapsed under an avalanche, police said. They said an army team rushed there but was unable to retrieve the bodies as 8-10 feet of snow had piled up in the area.
Three people, including a woman identified as Sitara Begum, were buried under another avalanche in Tanchi village of Gurez sector in Bandipora district, they said. One person was killed and two injured in Gulab Bagh village in lower Munda area of Anantnag district, they said adding six 'kothars' (mud houses) were buried under the avalanche following heavy snowfall over the past few days.
45 people were rescued from the 'kothars' by police and a team of 49 Rashtriya Rifles, a defence statement said. The body of Mohammad Shafi was recovered from one of the houses while three of those rescued were in a critical state.
The Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad convened an emergency meeting of senior civil, army, para-military and police officers to put in place rescue and relief grid for the worst affected areas in Doda and Kishtwar districts where up to 15 ft snow has accumulated at some places, triggering fears of avalanches and possibilities of loss to life and property.
The two districts along with areas in the adjoining one of Ramban have been experiencing record snowfall for the past few days. Areas like Kishtwar town that would normally receive few inches of snow have recorded the history's heaviest snowfall at 2.5 ft.
Azad asked the senior officers of army, para-military and police to alert their nearest formations in the snow bound areas especially in upper reaches to collect information and move to the affected places for relief and rescue operation wherever needed. He said telecommunication systems of these forces could be best utilized for collection of information as normal communication links like landline and cell phones have stopped working in these areas. He asked the Air Force to mobilize helicopter sorties in different directions in the affected districts as soon as weather opens up to instill confidence among the people and reach out to them in their hour of need.
Earlier in a Disaster Management Authority meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary, the
government released Rs. 7 crore to meet the exigencies created by heavy snowfall in the valley and parts of Jammu to restore the damaged public service infrastructure.
Kundal emphasized the need of attending problems of people caused by heavy snowfall on war footing. "Response of administration and field functionaries to such eventualities should be quick and effective", he said. |
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