Kashmir floods: UAE relatives desperate

"I just want to hear my parents’ voice, and know that they are alive,” says Sabiha Rashid Mattoo, a Kashmiri doctor working at Al Noor Polyclinic in Dubai. She last spoke to them on Saturday. “I haven’t heard from them since.”

Sabiha’s parents – Dr AR Mattoo (in his 70s) and Mehbooba (in her 60s) – live in Raj Bagh, one of the worst affected in the Kashmir floods.

Authorities in India and Pakistan are making frantic efforts to pluck tens of thousands of people to safety from flood hit areas, which have killed at least 350 as desperate residents are reportedly huddling on rooftops as their homes submerge.

It’s the first in six decades, with flood water submerging many cities in Kashmir, and reportedly killing 150 people. Thousands are still stranded in Srinagar, after five days of incessant rain led to the flooding of river Jhelum. According to media reports, nearly 20,000 have been rescued, but many areas are still inaccessible.

“When I spoke to them, they did tell me that the situation is grim, but I don’t think they were expecting it to get this bad. They said that there were planning to shift things to the first floor. But, now I gather that they had to move three floors up, and may have had to stay in the attic even.”

Nobody anticipated the situation to be so damaging, she says. “From what I hear from family and friends in Kashmir, the water levels increased suddenly, forcing people to move up to the third and fourth floors.”

Ever since Sabiha lost communication with her parents, she has been banking on media reports and social media updates to get a sense of the ground reality. “The helplines aren’t working. It’s constantly engaged,” she points out.

“There’s no concrete information.” Even when they sporadically get through to family in Kashmir, their versions are all hearsay or speculative.

“I heard that the Indian army sent out boats to rescue people, but I am worried if my aged parents were able to get to those boats.”

Her sister Samina and brother-in-law GN Mattoo, who were visiting from Srinagar, were also with her parents when the tragedy hit.

Sabiha’s last update about her family came from her friend’s daughter (and Malayalam actress) 16-year-old Apoorva Bose, who was in Kashmir for a hiking trip. “She was staying at a hotel near my family home. And, she was scheduled to leave on Sunday, but couldn’t because of the floods.

“She told her mother that she was being shifted to the third floor. That was the last we heard from her.” It’s based on this that Sabiha deduced that her family must’ve moved to the attic.”

Sabiha is unsure whether she should travel to Kashmir now. “I feel so helpless. I don’t know if there’s any point in my going there. I don’t even know if I would be able to reach there.

“From the information available from the media, I gather that the situation is only getting worse. There’s no electricity. And, I don’t even know if they have access to food and clean drinking water.”

She has also lost contact with her uncle Dr Perzada Abdul Rashid, and aunt Dr Wazira Khanum, and her cousins, who also live in Kashmir.

Dr Aijaz Lone, a resident of Abu Dhabi, also shares Sabiha’s concerns. “I haven’t heard from my family since four days. I’m so worried.” His father Habib Ullah Lone, brothers Shafguta and Naseer, and their families have been unreachable.

Vakar Mustafa, who runs his own business in Dubai, adds, “I don’t know whether my family (in-laws, uncles and aunts) has been moved to a safe place or whether they are still stranded in the floods. I last spoke to them on Sunday.” Even he has been trying to use the helplines provided, but to no use. “I still have no information as to where they are.”

There is a complete breakdown on telecommunication networks and no electricity. Meanwhile, the Indian media is reporting that things are expected to be fixed in the next two days.

Pakistan helplines
Ghulam Muhammad Awan, Director of Operations, Pakistan Red Crescent Society; phone
+92 51 444 8311; email: dirops@prcs.org.pk
Sumitha Martin, Acting Head of Delegation (Pakistan); office phone:+92 51 9250416/17, mobile: +92 308 555 9080; email: sumitha.martin@ifrc.org<mailto:sumitha.martin@ifrc.org>
Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority - +92 51 9205037

India helplines
In New Delhi are (011) 23093054, 23092763, 23093564, 23092923, 23092885, 23093566, 23093563. Delhi J&K House - 011 24611210 and 24611108; Srinagar - 0194-2452138; Jammu - 0191-2560401.
 

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