Friday, December 19, 2025
ADVT 
India

Srinagar flooded, internet connectivity snaps

Darpan News Desk IANS, 08 Sep, 2014 08:46 AM
    Flood waters Monday inundated most of Srinagar's residential and commercial areas as people scrambled to save whatever they could from the muddy, swirling waters.
     
    Mobile coverage was patchy across the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir while there was no internet connectivity.
     
    An estimated 70 percent of Srinagar was inundated for a second day Monday.
     
    Water entered shops in the main business hub of Lal Chowk and Residency. Desperate shopkeepers tried to retrieve their goods from the flooded shops.
     
    The death toll in the worst floods in Jammu and Kashmir in over 50 years is said to have crossed 150. However, information is patchy from remote areas now made inaccessible by the flood waters.
     
    The radio and television stations were shut Sunday after flood waters entered the installations.
     
    The authorities appeared ill equipped to battle the terrible calamity but did all they could in the circumstances.
     
    Mobiles went on the blink as private telecom service providers said their towers were badly damaged.
     
    Waters entered the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) headquarters on Maulana Azad Road, forcing its closure.
     
    There was no internet connectivity in the Kashmir Valley.
     
    The only communication tool still up and running is the police wireless system.
     
    Except for inter-district connectivity between Srinagar and north Kashmir's Ganderbal district, all other districts of the valley including Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Badgam, Baramulla and Bandipora were cut off.
     
    The air force Monday airlifted 70 boats as seven teams of the National Disaster Response Force struggled to save the flood victims. 
     
    Soldiers did a herculean task, rescuing the marooned. The navy deployed marine commandos.
     
    The Srinagar-Jammu highway as well as the Srinagar-Leh highway remained closed for the fourth day Monday.
     
    The floods have hit petrol availability in Srinagar. All petrol pumps were practically running dry, prompting pump operators to ration the fuel to just one litre for each vehicle.
     
    All educational institutes have been shut. All Haj flights to Saudi Arabia have been cancelled till Sep 12.
     
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who reviewed the flood situation Sunday, has called it a national disaster.
     
    The silver lining is that there was sunshine in both the valley and Jammu region, with the weather office saying there would be fair weather for the next four days.
     
    The water level in all mountain streams and seasonal drains has gone down.
    But the Jhelum river, which caused maximum devastation, is still flowing above the danger mark.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    No bed for ailing African woman at AIIMS

    No bed for ailing African woman at AIIMS
    Martha Susan Kabura (51) has come all the way from Kenya to India's premiere institute, AIIMS, hoping for a cure for her fatal ailment. But for the past week, she has been camping outside the hospital - in the sweltering

    No bed for ailing African woman at AIIMS

    Uproar in India: Baba Ramdev's aide meets Most Wanted Terrorist Hafiz Saeed

    Uproar in India: Baba Ramdev's aide meets Most Wanted Terrorist Hafiz Saeed
    Yoga guru Ramdev's close aide Ved Pratap Vaidik's meeting with 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan sparked off a major row Monday with the Congress seeking to pin down the Narendra Modi government by asking if he was sent as an emissary even as the ruling BJP distanced itself from the meeting, asserting Saeed was a "terrorist".

    Uproar in India: Baba Ramdev's aide meets Most Wanted Terrorist Hafiz Saeed

    Akali Dal leaders to meet president over Haryana SGPC

    Akali Dal leaders to meet president over Haryana SGPC
    Leaders of Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal will meet President Pranab Mukherjee soon to protest against the recent bill passed by the Haryana assembly under which a new Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC) would be set up to manage gurdwaras in Haryana.

    Akali Dal leaders to meet president over Haryana SGPC

    Haryana SGPC move illegal, Congress wants to divide Sikhs: Badal

    Haryana SGPC move illegal, Congress wants to divide Sikhs: Badal
    Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Saturday termed the move of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Haryana government to set up a separate committee for managing Sikh shrines in the state "illegal and patently wrong" as well as "politically motivated".

    Haryana SGPC move illegal, Congress wants to divide Sikhs: Badal

    SGPC vs HSGPC: Is Hooda's Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee illegal

    SGPC vs HSGPC: Is Hooda's Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee illegal
    For Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the passing of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Bill, which paves the way for a separate body for Haryana's gurdwaras, may have been a cakewalk Friday but this has to overcome hurdles with serious legal and political implications.

    SGPC vs HSGPC: Is Hooda's Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee illegal

    Air India becomes 27th member of Star Alliance

    Air India becomes 27th member of Star Alliance
    State-run Air India Friday became 27th member of Star Alliance. The move will provide customers access to lounges of member airlines the world over and single-ticket travel across airlines and other such facilities.

    Air India becomes 27th member of Star Alliance