Flooding And Heavy Rain Killed 220 In Indian City

Officials say 220 people have been killed in Srinagar, a city of about 1 million people due to the the region's worst flooding in 50 years, according to Reuters.

City police officer Altaf Khan cited reports of bodies trapped beneath debris but said the scale of the disaster would only become clear once the water receded, Reuters reported. Authorities in Indian Kashmir collected bodies floating in the streets on Thursday.

The Indian army has deployed about 30,000 troops for rescue and relief operations and soldiers distributed 224,000 liters of water and food to survivors.

In a gesture of solidarity, staff at the Indian prime minister's office gave up one day's salary for flood relief.

Many people praised the army on social media for its efforts but others vented their anger at delays in getting help to survivors.

Basharat Peer, a journalist and author of a book on the Kashmir conflict, who is working as a volunteer in Srinagar, said the response to the disaster had been woeful.

"It is clear case of mismanagement. Why are the basic supplies still not made available?" Peer asked.

"There are thousands of people searching for their families They have no idea whether they are alive or dead. We have no clean drinking water, no medicines and food to feed the children," he said.

Indian authorities in New Delhi said they had been overwhelmed by the flooding. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be conducting an emergency meeting to assess the disaster.

"We are just shocked to see how our paradise has been destroyed. Proper assessment of the disaster is yet to begin," a senior interior ministry official in New Delhi said of Kashmir.

Pakistan's heavily populated Punjab province was among the worst affected, with military helicopters evacuating thousands of people from the banks of the overflowing Chenab river.

In the city of Jhang, large swathes of land was under water on Thursday, with many residents refusing to leave for fear of losing their property, a Reuters reporter at the scene said.

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