The unfortunate unprecedented floods have caused enormous damage to life in Jammu and Kashmir. Water level though receding in Valley will need enormous efforts to put life back in gear. Immediate follow up to such water logged conditions is the water pollution leading to waterborne deceases. In Kedarnath in Uttrakhand, the habitats were on high rise mountains with water flowing out freely, hence the water clearance gravitationally was faster. Unlike that, the Kashmir Valley is like a bowl where water exodus will only be by land absorption and evaporation. The mechanical pumping can help in a very limited way only in few specific areas or just particular buildings.
Stagnant water for long fills up the billions of septic tanks, soakage pits, sub-soil water extraction wells/bore holes and pumps, rendering them un-usable for long times. That may lead to scarcity of potable water which may have to be drawn from streams and rivers and processed before use. The filled up fields and soil drowns the sub-soil life of rodents, many small mammals, cattle heads. These would soon start decaying and stinking and the disposal shall need a major effort. More importantly and an earlier priority will be the disposal of the human dead. With burial being the religious requisite, it will take time before the soil conditions will permit digging graves. Will it need mass burials? These are certain horrifying questions that cannot be wished away.
The rebuilding of the infrastructure, facilities, head count, re-uniting families, re-starting educational institute, re-establishing small scale house based arts craft and cottage industries. With the unwelcoming attitude of the ill-motivated sections of Kashmiri society, no major players from the national corporate sectors may like to step in. The arrogance and ungrateful ill treatment meted out to the rescue teams may discourage and dampen the spirit and dedication with which many central teams have jumped in spontaneously to render help risking their own lives.
It is testing time for emergence of the ‘true’ leadership in Valley who must aim at the welfare of the local population alone and divorce all other personal, motivated, sponsored ambitions and the dictates of those who have led Kashmir to death and destruction for the last more than two decades.
