Anger mounts in Indian Kashmir at slow pace of flood rescue efforts

Residents of revolt-torn Indian Kashmir turned their wrath on state administrators for failing to provide them with succour after the worst flooding in over a century, angrily dumping food parcels into gutters.

More than 200,000 people remained stranded yesterday in Indian Kashmir even as flood waters receded, revealing the full extent of the devastation in the Himalayan region, including neighbouring Pakistan, officials said.

The floods and landslides from days of heavy monsoon rains have now claimed more than 450 lives in Pakistan and India, with rescuers struggling to cope with the disaster.

A week into the disaster, large parts of Srinagar, the capital of Indian Kashmir, lay under water with many people crowded into relief camps.

Their misery has added to the problems of the administration in the Muslim-majority region, where a revolt against Indian rule has simmered for nearly a quarter century.

Many complain that the government, which has maintained a heavy presence in the territory to keep a lid on the revolt, has left them to their fate.

Residents stranded for days by the floodwaters said the army had selectively evacuated tourists and people according to a pre-set priority list, leaving locals to be rescued later by volunteers.