Ramban flood victims in bad condition

The intensity of influx of flood victims from the flood ravaged Kashmir valley in the Ramban district has intensified leading to a chaotic situation and thus posing another challenge for the district administration.

The district administration including police, in cooperation with the military, paramilitary and local NGOs has been arranging the vehicles to shift residents of Ramban to the Udampur railway station in the buses and other vehicles of State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC), army and private vehicles.

The influx of these persons who had started fleeing towards Ramban from valley on September 11 has been growing in numbers day by day.

According to the Deputy Commissioner/District Magistrate of Ramban, Farooq Ahmed Shah Bukhari, so far the administration has shifted more than 15,000 such persons who are mostly the labourers, artisans or vendors, to the Udhampur railway station in 65 buses of SRTC and private companies Ramban bus stand. These buses have so far made more than 300 trips between Ramban and Udhampur.

The langar and medical camps have also been put up by the Rashtriya Rifles (RR) under the aegis of Counter Insurgency Force(Delta), Indian Reserve Police (IRP Bn 9), Forest Department, volunteers of Quick Response Team(QRT) and the locals of Banihal, Ramsu and Ramban.

These people are coming to Banihal town from the valley on foot through the 9.5 kilometer railway tunnel, lying obsolete because of the suspension the rail service since September 5, and then upto Hingni at Nachlana (Tehsil-Banihal) by local taxies and minibuses or tempos.

From there they trek a distance of three kilometers above the damaged road stretch from hill slope to reach Ramsoo. From there they get ferried to Ramban bus stand and then to Udhampur in different vehicles.