Jammu and Kashmir floods: Death toll climbs to 277, CM Omar Abdullah says state slowly moving back to normalcy

The death toll due to the floods in Jammu and Kashmir has climbed to 277 even as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today expressed hope that the toll would not be as high as feared earlier.

"The death toll in Jammu is 203 including the 44 members of a marriage party who are missing since there bus as washed away (in Rajouri district)," Omar told PTI. He said the rescue workers have so far recovered 74 bodies from different parts of Kashmir Valley.

"Other than the 44 persons from Jammu, we do not have many people reported missing. If there would have been, we would have got to know by as communication systems have started working," he said.

Omar also dismissed rumours that dogs were eating bodies of flood victims or that some bodies had swept away to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). "There is no truth in these rumours," he added.

Jammu and Kashmir has been hit by the worst-ever floods which have wreaked havoc in several districts. 

Omar said all the districts have been told to compile the details of damages and losses at the earliest. "I think barring Srinagar, we are still grappling with floods here, most of the districts are completing their work," he said.

Although the state government tried to make the Civil Secretariat functional yesterday, the attempt was unsuccessful due to water logging and Omar was candid in admitting it. "We will make another attempt on Monday," he said even as his whole cabinet and top bureaucrats are camping at Hari Niwas.

Omar said life in Srinagar city, which has been worst affected by the floods, will begin to move towards normalcy in the next two days.

"We are still some way away from normalcy. It depends on how you categorise normalcy. South Kashmir is limping back much faster but that is because of the natural flow of the water. Pampore is still largely inundated but now through artificial cuts in the bund (banks), the water is flowing back into the river. So we are hopeful that things will sort of begin to move towards normality within next 24 to 48 hours," he said.

The Chief Minister said while some areas of Srinagar were largely unaffected by the floods, some parts are still inundated in water. "Cuts have been made to facilitate the flow of water.That has been perhaps the most successful way of draining out the water. Large number of cuts have been made from Pampore to Chattabal and beyond to get the water to flow out," he said.

Omar said while most of the organised cuts made by the government have worked well, in some cases, people have taken the matters into their own hands causing damage to some water supply schemes. "That is alright as our priority has to be draining of water. Pumping is also going on though pumps will never be an ideal solution due to the limited capacity," he said.

The Chief Minister said the inundated areas of the city still require to be supplied food and medicines and "that is being done". "Medical camps are being organised so that diseases and illnesses can be treated," he added.