The overnight floods, prompted by an intense cloudburst, tore through Leh, the main town in the Buddhist-dominated Ladakh region, causing what state Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora described as “unprecedented” devastation.
Television footage showed scenes reminiscent of an earthquake, with collapsed buildings, downed power lines and residents scrabbling knee-deep through mud to try to dig survivors out of the rubble.
The floods hit Leh and surrounding villages without warning during the night when most residents were asleep.
“We have recovered 103 bodies so far and dozens are still missing,” a senior police officer told AFP, asking not to be named as he was not authorised to talk to the media.
At least 400 people were reported injured.
“The devastation is unprecedented,” Jora said, adding that the military had been called in to help with the relief efforts.
The Indian army has a large presence in Ladakh, which shares a sensitive border with neighbouring China.
Several army posts were washed away in the flood and army spokesman Sitanshu Kar said 25 soldiers were missing.
“All the civilian doctors have been operating from the main army hospital, because the Leh Civil Hospital has been filled with mud,” Kar said.
August is the peak tourist season in Ladakh, which experiences extreme weather conditions and is largely inaccessible during the harsh winter.
Some 3,500 metres above sea level, Leh is surrounded by high-altitude desert where heavy rainfall is uncommon.
The town was effectively cut off Friday, with the flood waters washing away sections of the main highways to the popular backpacker destination of Manali and the Kashmiri summer capital, Srinagar.
“So far, we have no reports of any tourists among the dead, but some are stranded on the Leh-Manali road. The army has sent rescue teams there,” Jora said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed “deep shock” at the scale of the disaster, and promised federal help to the Kashmir state government.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th, 2010.
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