J&K floods: A long wait for relief

The Promise
Two days after the floods, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas and announced an aid of Rs 1,000 crore. The PM next visited Kashmir on Diwali, a month later, and announced Rs 745 crore as another instalment of aid.

* Only Rs 300 crore has reached flood-hit families. Those who lost their houses completely were given Rs one lakh for concrete houses and Rs 17,600 for kutcha homes. Shopkeepers were given a relief of between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh.

* The Centre deducted Rs 500 crore from the State Disaster Relief Fund to settle the bill of the defence ministry for the relief and rescue operations undertaken by the Army and the Air Force

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The Demand
After the flood water receded, the J&K government submitted a detailed proposal to the Centre seeking financial assistance of Rs 44,000 crore for relief and rehabilitation. J&K Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu had also prepared a special development plan asking for Rs 1,27,000 crore over five years. That plan, too, has been kept on hold.

The Trickle
The state has got Rs 5,309 crore so far, which includes Rs 1,000 crore for restoration of damaged public liabilities, Rs 838 crore for pending liabilities under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan; Rs 172 crore for tourism, Rs 47 crore for repair of damaged roads, 175 crore for damaged medical equipment and Rs 2,232 crore for other reconstruction efforts. not meant for relief rehabilitation..

A Year Ago , High and Dry
As the flood waters submerged Srinagar city, the political and bureaucratic establishment was largely missing. In the high security VIP area of Gupkar, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was accused of shutting the gates of his residence. He later admitted that he had “no government” for the first 24 hours of the floods, adding that there was a complete breakdown between him and his officials. Several senior officials and politicians left for Jammu, where many of them have another set of official homes. PDP leader Altaf Ahmad Bukhari, who opened his mutli-storey office complex to shelter several hundred homeless people, and the separatist who set up relief camps were the only people visible on the ground.