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Days of intensive rains have left the northern part of India devastated as Kashmir is facing unprecedented floods. So far, the floods have killed 200 people in Indian-administered Kashmir. According to the authorities of Jammu and Kashmir, more than 10 million of people would have been affected.
Close to 478 villages have been completely submerged, while several thousand villages are not accessible. The main city of Indian-administered Kashmir, Srinagar, has been under water for almost a week and it is only a couple of days that the access road to the airport was reopened. Many inhabitants of Srinagar, who could not flee, are still living on their house’s rooftop.
Emergency needs of inhabitants
The situation is dire and the impact is huge for the daily routine and livelihood of Kashmiri people as the flood devastated thousands of hectares of agriculture land. The India Government even declared the flood as a “national disaster”.
As a response to the floods, Terre des hommes (Tdh) promptly sent a team to conduct a need assessment and coordinate with the authorities and other NGOs on the ground. Decision was taken to provide relief to 17’000 people.
Tdh’s intervention will concentrate on improving access to safe drinking water, providing education kits (including notebooks, pencils, a pencil case, a warm cap and a school bag) and hygiene kits (including soap, detergent, disinfectant and sanitary pads) for children and adolescent girls as well as improving food security through cash assistance. The project will take place in 5 villages of the districts of Baramulla and Anantnag.
Cyclone Hudhud hits two other Indian States
Cyclone Hudhud made landfall Sunday morning near the eastern India port city of Visakhapatnam (also known as Vizag) with estimated wind speeds of 205 kph making it the equivalent of a Category 4-cyclone. Over 350’000 people were evacuated. Currently, severely affected districts include Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulum in Andhra Pradesh, and Gajapati, Kendrapada, Puri and Ganjam in Odisha.
Hundreds of relief centres were opened in the two states. Disaster relief teams have also been sent.
Tdh is already present in these two states of India. All its partners are involved in relief measures and prepared to response as soon as possible.
CTA infopage India.
