Aid yet to reach scores of Jammu villages

Scores of villages in the worst-hit four districts of Jammu region have not yet been reached by rescue teams even though rain has stopped for the third day Thursday.

The districts of Doda, Reasi, Rajouri and Udhampur have been severely hit.

Some residents in cut-off villages in Rajouri district have contested official claims that food packets have been air-dropped in these inaccessible areas.

Residents of Dharal, Thana mandi, Khawas, Peeri, Kandii, Budhal and other villages have not been reached by any rescuer in the past four days, they said.

Puran Singh, a former minister, marooned in Kewal village of Rajouri district, said he had somehow contacted the district magistrate in Rajouri who promised rescue, but nobody came to rescue him in the past three days.

Thousands of homes, government buildings and panchayat offices have been submerged completely or partially in the Jammu region.

Residents of some of the areas in Rajouri, Reasi, Doda and Udhampur are forced to live under the open sky.

BSNL officials told IANS in Jammu that out of its 371 exchanges in the Kashmir Valley, 121 have been completely damaged and rendered non-functional.

"We have restored 31 of these and more are likely to be restored by this (Thursday) evening," an official said.

Water level in two major rivers of Jammu region - Chenab and Tawi - continued to retreat Thursday as the weather remained dry here.

Compared to the valley where there is total chaos with the administration admitting that more than four lakh people still have to be rescued, the state government and its officials are more visible in the Jammu region.