More than 2.5 million people have been affected by what is seen as the worst flooding in more than a century in the Kashmir Valley, with close to 300 deaths, following record monsoon rains.
Although the floodwaters have receded in the past two days, the Indian and Pakistani sides of the disputed region are at risk of waterborne diseases, local medical personnel warned on Monday.
Hospitals were also underwater and doctors were facing a shortage of medicine and surgical equipment as they tried to provide emergency help in makeshift medical centers.
Google map of Srinagar, in the Kashmir valley, before and after after flood waters of Sept., 2014. (Used with permission from Google)
Between 250,000 and 300,000 people have been rescued and communication has been partly restored, after the Jhelum River burst its banks more than a week ago.
In Srinagar, Indian Kashmir’s main city with a population over a million and particularly hard hit by extensive flooding, more than 75,000 people are still in partly submerged homes.