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Tengpura is only a 10 km drive away from the heart of Srinagar. It’s a place where for generations people who tend farmlands have flocked together. Now this community is in disarray – living in a haphazard tented relief camp that has come up on the banks of a stream, which drowned the area, taking down 35 houses of the 900-odd that exist in the area. There are just 65 tents, no toilets, no water supply, no medical facilities, no beds or tables or chairs…
The residents felt that they would need to take shelter till at least ID, which has now arrived. As these landlords look out at their drowned homes from the embankment along the river, many of them wonder if they will receive any help in their hour of need -- as they stare at the approaching winter. It will be at least six months before they are able to sow seeds for a fresh crop...which means that their kitchens and pockets will remain empty for a long time.
Abdul Rashid, 52, has three sons and 1 daughter in his family of 11 people, including grandchildren. “All the families here are having just one meal a day here,” he informs, “since there is no water to even cook food.” No officials have visited the camp to check the conditions, he claims and complains that the government has also stopped providing the 35 kgs of rice as ration. He adds that the residents of the camp have not had any milk, eggs or meat for the past two weeks.
Apart from food supplies, he feels that the camp area needs at least 20 more tents, solar lamps, mobile toilets and medical supplies. People are complaining about itching and fever and there is a fear that there may be an outbreak of disease with the water level remaining stagnant and the stench arising from the increasing litter around the camp.
There are 500 children in the camp area, including about 50 newborns and infants, as well as about 40 pregnant women. Since all their schools – government and private – are still under water, the children are traumatized and would need psycho-social support as well as some activities that can occupy them.
Save the Children has provided some relief here and will work with the families in the months to come...but obviously much much more needs to be done for this community and several like this one, spread across Srinagar city and the affected districts far removed from any limelight.
