Haunted by images of the angry waters

The waters might have receded but the fear of people who were stranded in the floods are yet to die down. 

“I still wake up in the middle of the night due to a recurrent bad dream where I see myself stuck in water,” says Ashwath Bhatt, a well-known theatre personality who had travelled to his hometown Kashmir to shoot a documentary. Blissfully unaware of what the future had in store, he encountered some of the most horrifying experiences of life, like other Delhiites, who have now returned safe to the city.

“I reached Kashmir on August 31 and I asked my friend casually to check the weather forecast on his phone. It predicted heavy rains for the next five to six days continuously and I thought how will I shoot,” says Bhatt recalling the time when he was unaware of the impending calamity. 

As the downpour continued, he and his team received a warning from their hotel to shift their luggage from ground floor to first floor. “We shot this shifting process on September 2,” recalls Meenakshi Thapa, one of Bhatt’s teammate. 

The 22-year-old had been to the valley before, but never expected what the trip would be this time round. She adds that instead of shooting for their documentary they started shooting the mayhem and the unfolding tragedy. But what astonished them was the lack of any government initiative to warn people. 

Bhatt says, “I wonder why the government didn’t announce it? Even while we were shooting, we did not hear any announcements warning people to leave their homes and shift to safer places. The irony was that nobody knew the actual situation and locals were going to the baandh (dam) of Jhelum to check the water level.”

Back in Delhi, things changed drastically for the doctor couple, Dr Faiz Kuchhi and his wife Dr Beenish, an anaesthetist at Batra Hospital, whose two-and-a-half-year-old son Barack was stranded with their relatives in Kashmir. 

“Since there was a marriage party we allowed them to take our son along, but overnight the water level started rising and what we could see and hear on TV was only about flooding of Jawahar Nagar where my relatives lived,” says the tense father. “I could not eat anything for three days,” the harried gastroenterologist at Holy Family Hospital told Metrolife.

“My wife kept weeping silently since we couldn’t make any contact with anyone for three days at a stretch. The state government has failed in not only preempting the situation, even after the 2010 report, but also in providing correct information which they could have through mosques or radio,” the distraught doctor said.

The wedding in their family was cancelled, while for 35-year old Kashif Siddiqui, the marriage of his friend turned into a nightmare. 

“We reached Pampore (near Srinagar) on September 3 and had to return on September 6. But due to the rain, the National Highway got flooded. I could see people living near the banks, especially the labour class, getting affected the most.

 We were advised to take the hilly route to reach the airport, but it wasn’t possible to do that considering we had small children with us. We then hired an SUV on Septemeber 13 to reach the airport but remained in doubt due to the high level of water. But what I will never forget is the zindadilli of the locals who organised free food and accommodation to others,” remembers Siddiqui, who runs a construction business in the city.

All those who have returned safe and sound, talk warmly about the helpful attitude of the local people which stood strong, even after the disaster. All are trying to help others in whatever way possible. 

Bhatt says, “People whom I spoke to a day before the flood are missing now. I will go back and document their narrative, although I don’t know how I will find them. This shows that when human beings play with nature, nature too plays with them.”