Jammu and Kashmir Secretariat Reopens After Floods, Most Employees Absent

Srinagar, Sept 18 (PTI) After remaining closed for 11 days due to massive floods, Jammu and Kashmir’s Civil Secretariat reopened today.

However, less than 10 per cent employees reported for work at the scheduled opening time at 9:30 AM, the official in-charge of security at the Secretariat said.

The area around the secretariat including the main entrance is still submerged in nearly one feet of water. The ground floor of the secretariat is not functional due to water logging.

The offices in the upper storeys of the seven-storey building have been opened, the official said.

The state Cabinet, which had met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah last week, decided that the government shall start functioning from the Civil Secretariat, Srinagar, from September 18.

Over 200 people have been killed in the devastating floods in the state.