SRINAGAR: The flash floods and landslides that killed three people left a trail of destruction in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district, with affected people picking up the pieces and men and machinery deployed for restoration work on Monday.Roads have been damaged, vehicles buried under debris and residential houses, shops and government infrastructure worth crores of rupees damaged. Jammu Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar said 12 villages have suffered damage in the Sunday’s rain fury.“Our house has been completely damaged. We have lost everything including jewellery, clothes and household items. We were sleeping when a cloudburst hit our village. We somehow managed to escape from the house,” said a woman from Ramban. “We are homeless and helpless now. Government should provide us relief and also rehabilitate us,” she said, adding all 11 houses in their area have been damaged.Ravi Kumar, who was running a shop at Dolibazar Ramban for the last 18 years, said, “Our lives were ruined in one hour. At least 25 shops have been damaged. We don’t know how to earn our living.”A portion of a hotel and vehicles parked in front of it have been buried under the debris. Sunil Kumar from Jammu, who was staying in the hotel, said, “We saw water coming into the hotel. We broke the windows of the second and third floors to escape. Locals and hotel staff helped in saving our lives.” Sunil said his vehicle, which he had purchased a few months back, has been lost under the debris.A cab driver said, “We did not get time to take our vehicles to a secure place. We had taken loans to purchase the cabs and hope government will provide us assistance.”Cars, trucks, oil tankers and rescue vehicles of Ramban’s Quick Response Team (QRT) have been stuck in the debris on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, especially on the 4 km stretch between Seri and Maroog. “The height of the sludge at some places is more than 20 feet,” an official said.The personnel of police, NDRF, SDRF, civil QRTs, Army and other agencies, besides volunteers from NGOs, are engaged in restoration operations in the affected areas. An NHAI official said efforts are underway to clear thousands of tonnes of debris at over a dozen locations in Ramban.“Full restoration of Srinagar-Jammu highway is likely to take another five to six days,” the official said.Restoration operations on in affected areasThe personnel of police, NDRF, SDRF, civil QRTs, Army and other agencies, besides volunteers from NGOs, are engaged in restoration operations in the affected areas. An NHAI official said efforts are underway to clear thousands of tonnes of debris at over a dozen locations in Ramban.
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