Flash floods hit Kashmir region hard
Pastor Dale Morgan
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*Flash floods hit Kashmir region hard*
Floods are rare in Kashmir region
Scores of villages have been inundated in Indian-administered Kashmir
after heavy rains triggered flash floods and landslides in the region.
One person has been killed and many stranded after flood waters entered
a number of villages following breaches in the Jhelum river.
Schools have been shut down and the highway linking the state's
capitals, Srinagar and Jammu, closed to traffic.
Floods are unusual in Kashmir even during monsoon rains.
The BBC's Altaf Hussain in Srinagar says that Indian army soldiers have
been deployed in many areas to assist the authorities to move stranded
people to safe areas.
A senior official told The Hindu newspaper that 163 villages have been
marooned after flood waters entered them.
Worst flooding
Army spokesman Col Hemant Juneja told the Associated Press news agency
that soldiers were bringing food to residents of nearly 100 of these
villages.
"The situation is grim," flood control official Altaf Baba said.
One person was swept away by the flood waters in the Kulgam region,
about 70km (45 miles), officials told reporters.
They said Anantnag and Pulwana were among the worst affected districts.
The government has shut down schools for two days so they can house
people affected by the flooding.
Correspondents say Indian-administered Kashmir is facing its worst
floods in two decades.
Last week, monsoon rains and floods killed at least 135 people in the
Barmer area of the western Indian state of Rajasthan.
Barmer is part of the Thar desert, which receives little rain and is
prone to drought.