News

Shutdown in Kashmir valley demanding flood compensation

by IBNS 07 Sep 2015, 12:34 am

Srinagar, Sept 7 (IBNS) shops and business establishments remained closed throughout the Kashmir valley on Monday following a shutdown call by he Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) in protest against the state government's alleged apathy towards the plight of 2014 flood victims.

The agitators are demanding compensation for the losses suffered in September last year.

On September 7, 2014, the Kashmir Valley witnessed an unprecedented floods that submerged almost the entire civil lines areas and commercial hubs of Srinagar. The  flood waters  took over a month to drain out.

Trade unions said that the government hasn't done enough to mitigate the sufferings of the traders who were badly hit.

Authorities placed senior separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, Muhammad Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, under house arrest in Srinagar allegedly to prevent them from participating in the protest march proposed by various traders' organisations.

A total of 6,782 villages, of which 741 remained submerged for weeks, were flooded, affecting 18 lakh households, official figures say.

Even though a total of  21,485 damaged houses were damaged, 4,700 of them severely, compensation has reached only 1,690 house owners.  Nearly 400 people lost their lives in the floods.

 Property and standing crops, worth thousands of crores of rupees were destroyed in the deluge.