Srinagar inundated, efforts on to restore connectivity

Flood waters continued to play havoc in Srinagar Tuesday as authorities scrambled to rescue the marooned and tried to restore the telecommunications network that has been on the blink for the past three days.

The water level in the Jhelum river started receding marginally Tuesday, but the backwaters of the Dal lake inundated more areas in summer capital Srinagar.

More than 500 hostel-resident students of the National Institute of Technology in the Hazratbal area of the city were shifted to safer locations after the water from the Dal lake entered the college campus.

Flood waters from the Dal lake have also entered portions of the Hazratbal shrine even as the authorities confirmed that the holy relic of the prophet is safe and only the ground floor of the shrine has been inundated.

The authorities said that in order to restore telecommunication across the Valley, four satellite transmitting towers are being set up in Srinagar and other places by Tuesday evening.