Bima is one of the famous Dardic Brokpa villages where tourists are allowed. In the tourist circles it is famous as ‘Aryan Village’. ‘Brokpa’ is the word used in Ladakh for the Dardic people. In fact, Tibetan word Brokpa means Highlanders (herdsmen or shepherds). This community has its own distinct culture and language. The villagers even like to claim that they are decedents of Greek soldiers of Alexander’s army. There are also stories that German women would come to Brokpa villages secretively just to get ‘Aryan’ progenies.
In the beginning of August, a flash flood triggered by torrential rain and cloudburst caused a stream to send heavy boulders and rocks to fall into Indus river at Bima village. The resulting blockage caused the river to swell into a lake and submerge the village.
In September, the waters had receded a bit but I found the village almost empty and under water. After the flood, the only motorable access to the village remained from Kargil side. I was arriving from Leh side and at a point the road just simply vanished into the lake.
To get into the village had to climb a 15 feet cliff face.
During peak tourist season, you can find around fifty tourists roaming in the village. I found even most of the villagers missing. They have been provided temporary shelter by Army where they get breakfast, and then they leave for towns to work as porters and do other menial work. With their farms under water, there’s not much they can do. I was told it would still take couple of months before any form of measure to remove the blockage in Indus can be tried.
The stream that rolled boulders into the Indus
The blockage point. The river here roars like a waterfall.
A Brokpa working in one of the only farms still functional
A Brokpa brewer of ‘Arrak’
The village might be under river, but the river of Arrak must continue flowing.
Distilling ‘Chang’ (local Barley Ale) to get Arrak (Barley wine)
About sixty days after the flood
A city still damp
daubed in two shades
Camps near Dal
Camp dwellers. Most of the government camps look empty. People mostly stay with relative with a nominal person staying in the camp the mark his presence, expecting relief. People on radio sound angry about the way damage is being assessed and relief being handed out.
Clearing silt from the ghat near Fateh Kadal foot bridge
Not wishes tied to the walls of a shrine Polythene and rubbish brought in by water stuck to the Mesh panel of a little garden by the ghat
Soaked ancient brickwork of a house along the river
After two weeks under fifteen feet of water Dead plants in a private garden along Nageen lake A positive side effect of the flood has been that the markets are flush with vegetables of great quality.
A roadside stall offering flood infested material for sale.
The level at SPS museum along Bund road
Level of water inside the museum Knees of the deity I was told, most of the damage to display material has been to the papermache works. With about 2% almost of them gone.
Soaked old journals inside the Library of the museum
“Fishing in the Hidden Eddies of the Jhelum. The flow of the river is watched with superstitious fear for signs of increased volume and impending flood. To the Kashmiri the swiftly flowing mountain streams have become barometers of fate.”
~from ‘Beneath The crags of Kashmir’ (1920) by V.C. Scott O’connor
One of the persistent side effect of frequent flooding and other natural calamities in Kashmir, has been the proliferation of a phenomena witnessed in many other parts of the world: humbug. In times like these most people look upwards and bear witness to work of Gods. [Watch: Impact of 2004 Tsunami on Indonesia]
Walter Lawrence, in the aftermath of great flood of 1893 in Kashmir, recorded a curious practice prevalent among Kashmiri people. He wrote, ‘Marvellous tales were told of the efficacy of the flags of saints which had been set up to arrest the floods, and the people believe that the rice-fields of Tulamula and the bridge of Sumbal were saved by the presence of these flags, which were taken from the shrines as a last resort.’
The Spring shrine of Tulamulla obviously became more popular after the floods of 1893 and slowly overshadowed most other sites as the holiest of holy.
New house over the old three feet base
Chattabal, 2008
When I was a child, wherever I would spill a glass of water, the exclamation from my mother or grandmother would be, ‘Ye kus Sylaab!’ (What’s this flood!). The house I was born in Chattabal was near a river. The hundred year old wooden house was built a good three feet above the ground. As a child I never understood the real need for it. I was told it was for safety from the floods. I would wonder: ‘What floods?’. I had seen the quite river. No way was that river ever going to reach our doorstep and then climb these three feet too. Then in autumn of 1988 (or was it 1989?), I remember, one morning, on way to the house of the gourbai (milkmaid), walking to the small foot bridge over the river and finding planted at the start of it a red skull and bone signboard with ‘Danger’ written across it. The reading at Sangam wasn’t good. A flood warning had been issued in Kashmir. I waited for water to rise. Would we be using boats in the house. Could I fish? I waited. The flood never arrived at the gate.
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A list of all the major floods in Kashmir and the changes some of them brought. The date till year 1900 is mostly based on the list provided by Pandit Anand Kaul in his book ‘Geography of The Jammu and Kashmir State’ (1925)’ (scanned and uploaded here as part of searchkashmir free book project). The info. about era post 1900 till 1947 is updated using various accounts of European visitors and for more modern times using news reports, government reports and primarily ‘Flood Control, Drainage, and Reclamation in Kashmir Valley’ (1956) by H. L. Uppal and ‘Paradise in Peril: An Ecological Profile of the Kashmir Valley’ (1995).
[Update: Entries marked * are from Tarihk-e-Hassan of Pir Ghulam Hasan Khuihami who was the primary local resource for Walter Lawrence and for later writings by Anand Koul. Entries taken from ‘Historical Geography of Kashmir’ (1981) by S.Maqbul Ahmad and Raja Bano. It is interesting to note that Tarihk-e-Hassan was primarily based on work of Mula Ahmad, the court poet of Zain-ul-abdin. The surviving copy of Mula Ahmad’s ‘History of Kashmir’ was lost by Hassan in a boating accident.]
2082-2041 B.C.
The one story about Wular from legends. In the time of Sundar Sena, a destructive earthquake occurred by which the earth in the middle of the city of Sandimatnagar was rift and water gushed out in a flood [from Ular Nag] and soon submerged the whole city. By the same earthquake a knoll of the hill at Baramulla near Khandanyar tumbled down which chocked the outlet of the river Jhelum and consequently the water rose high at once and drowned the whole city together with its king and inhabitants. This submerged city is now the site occupied by the Vular Lake.*
* 635 A.D.
During the reign of Raja Durlab Duran, the city of Srinagar was drowned due to a heavy rainfall and the dam (Sadd) at Talan Marg built by Raja Parvaesen, were destroyed. As a result of Talan Marg being flooded, the Dal lake was formed.
724-761 A.D.
During the reign og Laltaditya due to a flood, all buildingd of the Raja in the town were destroyed. So, he rebuilt his palace in Litapur.
855-882 A.D
During the time of Avantivarman, famine was caused by flood and then steps were taken to deepen the Jhelum near Khadanyar in order to accelerate the flow of the river. This measure had the effect of minimising the chances of flood as it was concluded that flooding has happened because of blocking of a river pass at Khadniyar.
917-8 A.D.
During the time of King Partha, rive crop was destroyed by flood, the result being a great famine. Srinagar drowned as houses floated on the river as though they were bubbles. *
1122 A.D.
During the time of Harsha, crops were swept away.
1379 A.D.
During the time of Sultan Shahabud-Din, 10000 houses were destroyed
[The above entry is by Anand Koul. And probably wrong on account of timeline [the Sulatan died in 1373]. Also, Rajatarangini of Jonaraja tells us:
There was flood in 1361. The town of Laxmi-Nagar was founded at Hari Parbat by Sultan Shahabud-Din to rehabilitate the people of the Srinagar city.It was named after his wife Laxmi. ]
1573 A.D.
Ali Khan Chak’s time many houses and crops were swept away*
1662 A.D.
Houses destroyed during Ibrahim Khan’s rule. According to Hassan the year was 1682 A.D. and the reason was a severe storm in which houses whirled around on water like boats. At the time an earthquake is also supposed to have occurred.
1730 A.D.
Houses and crops destroyed during Nawazish Khan’s time due to heavy rains.*
1735 A.D.
Thousands of houses said to be destroyed during Dildiler Khan’s time. * After eight days of rain, flood water stayed in courtyards of houses as well as in the fields for a long time.
1746 A.D.
10,000 house and all the bridges on the Jhelum and also the crops swept away during time time of Afrasiab Khan.*
1770 A.D.
All bridges and many houses destroyed during Amir Khan Jawansher’s time.*
1787 A.D.
During Juma Khan’s time, Dal Gate [*Qazi Zadeh] gave way and all the easter portion of the city of Srinagar was submerged.*
1787 A.D.
Crops destroyed during Abdullah Khan’s time*
1836 A.D.
Bridges at Khanabal, Bijbihara. Pampor and Amira Kadal were swept away during the time of Col. Mian Singh.*
1841 A.D.
During the time of Shekh Gulam Mohiuddin, rain fell for seven days continually, Jhelum overflowed the Dal Bund [ Qazi Zadeh] and submerged the whole Khanyar and Rainawari. Six bridges from Fateh Kadal to Sumbal were swept away. *
[1844. great Gilgit valley flood ]
[*1882 A.D.
Sind-lar river flooded, changed course, water entered Anchar Lake extending the size of the lake three times. (Before this flooding, Anchar Lake was much smaller (probably of the present size)]
[‘John Bishop Memorial Hospital’ got washed away in devastating floods of 1892.~ Until the shadows flee away the story of C.E.Z.M.S. work in India and Ceylon (1912)]
21st July 1893
The first of the well documented case of flooding in Kashmir during the time of Maharaja Pratap Singh. It rained incessantly for 59 hours and the river became so swollen that miles of land on both banks were flooded. The water rose to the height of R.L. 5197.0. All the bridges except Amira Kadal, and many houses were destroyed. Loss of cattle and crops was immense and many people were drowned. A detailed account of this and previous flood was provided by Walter Lawrence in his ‘Valley of Kashmir’ (1895).
“In 1841, there was a major flood which caused much damage to the life and property in Srinagar. Some marks shown to me suggest that the flood of 1841 rose some nine feet higher on the Dal lake than it rose in 1893. But thanks to the strong embankments around Dal, the flood level in 1893 never rose on the lane to the level of the flood in Jhelum”
It is interesting to note that New town area of Srinagar was formed in 1891, in the 1893 flood most of the old town of Srinagar was swept. After the flood of 1893, Jhelum bank was strengthened to protect Munshi Bagh, and the new ‘bund’ came up. This was the first of ‘Great Flood’ in recent history after which modern preventive measures were started.
Between 1895 and 1903, flood kept arriving.
1900
The water was nine feet lower at Munshibagh than its predecessor. It is chiefly remembered for the breaches in the right bank above Shergrahi.
1902
The flood of 1902 was lower than the previous one by 2’2 feet.
24th July 1903
The second of the great flooding in modern times. Five inches of rain fell between 11th and 17th July and eight inches from 21st to 23rd idem and the river rose to the maximum of R.L. 5200.37 on the 24th July at 2 P.M. The whole valley became one vast expanse of water and fearful loss of life and property and crops occurred. The damages caused to the roads and other Public works alone rose to over three lakhs of rupees.
V.C. Scott O’connor mentions that people claimed Dal Lake rose Ten feet in thirty minutes. Three thousand houses in and around Sringar collapsed, and over forty miles of roads were under water.
This was the flood that lead to the first proper scientific approach to control the floods in the valley using the help of British. In 1904, a spill channel was excavated above Srinagar through a swamp rejoining the river at some distance below the city and proved much helpful in protecting Srinagar. Dredging work started in 1907 from Baramulla unto Vular Lake using electricity. In around 1906, came the weir at Chattabal. The flood control work with British help continued for a couple of decades. A Kashmiri poet of that time named Hakim Habibullah went on to write a work titled ‘Sylab Nama’ based on this natural calamity of 1903.
The flood kept arriving at regular interval: 1905, 1909, 1912, 1918, 1926, 1928 (about 75 people lost lives), 1929, 1932, 1948.
During the years 1900 and 1965, valley experienced about 15 major floods.
1950
Fifties started with flood. In 1950, water of Jhleum was flowing 10-15 feet over the banks in Srinagar. In all about 70 mile area of the valley was under water. In Jammu, about 12,000 houses collapsed.
In the fifties, the floods were witnessed in: 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957 and 1959. Of these, the floods in 1950, 1954, 1957 and 1959 were major. And among them the flood of 1957 and 1959 were two greatest ever in recent recorded times of Kashmir.
1957
Capacity of Jhelum river is 36,000 to 50,000 cusecs and flood situation is declared in Kashmir when the water discharge at Sangam in south Kashmir is above 24 thousand cusecs.
In 1957 it was estimated roughly to be 90,000 cusecs to 1 lakh 20 thousand cusecs at Sangam while the flood capacity of Jhelum is 90,000 cusecs. That year Wular Lake rose from normal height of 5,172 meters to 5,184 meters. It is said, “the area on the left bank of the Jhelum from Sangam to Srinagar, and on the right bank from Sangam to Barsoo, appeared one continues sheet of water, with the submerged village site sticking out as bench marks on the watery waste.” Human lives lost were at about 41 with 600 villages inundated. The damages was at about Rs 4.2 crores.
July, 1959
This flood is considered the most devastating in recent times. Jhelum was assumed to be at 80,000 cusecs to 100,000 against its normal capacity of 17,000 cusecs. The highest gauge touched at Sangam was 31.00 feets and the discharge through the river was about 50,000 cusecs.
About 82 people lost lives. Damage to public utility services was about Rs. 20 million, in addition to Rs. 15.6 million of damage to crops.
1960s started with Kashmir placing order for British shovels and two American dredgers (costing about $16, 800,00 or 8 Crore of the time) capable of dredging 750 cubic feet per hour. The floods continued in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1969 and 1972.
August 1973
About 20% of the population of the state impacted flooding about 40 villages. About seventy people dead, with 50 in Jammu province and about 21 of drowning in Kashmir. Damages amounted to Rs 12.18 crores. The Buddhist site at Harwan (the upper terrace) was buried under debris during this flood (it was finally cleared in 1978-80).
Floods kept arriving at regular intervals
1976
1986
1988
14,700 hectares of land was under water, 1.66 lakh quintal of paddy crop costing Rs. 2.50 crore were damaged. Three hundred villages were affected and four hundred and fifty hours were washed away. Loss of irrigation and flood-control works totalled Rs 15.50 crore.
The possible reason for damage to the city from these recent floods remains the slitting of water bodies. “The 1891 census of the state mentions 34,000 boatmen using the Jhelum as the Kashmir Valley’s only highway. Today Jhelum is least fit to accommodate even an average sized cargo boat. So shallow are the waters that in the summer of 1987 one could wade through the river as it passed through Srinagar.”
September 1992
About 210 lives lost.
1995
August 1996
Happened while Amarnath Yatra was going on, about 160 dead.
2010
September, 2014
Triggered by merging of western disturbance and the monsoon over the entire three regions of the State. Heavy rain experienced in upper reaches of Kashmir on 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Upper-reaches of Pahalgam experience three massive cloudbursts.
On 3rd September, Gauge at Sangam reads 21 feet. Flood is normally declared when water is at 23 feet. Ram Munshi bagh reading is 12 feet. Danger mark is 18 feet. People worry about the rising water levels. Rains continue.
On Sept 07, 2014. Flood hits Srinagar city. Deaths in Jammu regions.
Gauge reading at around 1200 hrs in Srinagar:
Sangam = Gauge plate under water (last recorded gauge 33.65 ft).
Ram Munshibagh = Gauge plate under water (last recorded gauge 26.25 ft).
Ashram = 17.58 ft
Conditions abate by September 10th. But almost entire Srinagar under water.
Vinden och floden (The Wind and the River),1951 by great Swedish filmmaker, Arne Sucksdorff. Based on the life of boat people of Kashmir. Lyrically capturing the songs and images of that life in one of the most beautiful films ever made on Kashmir.
Arne Sucksdorff visited India in 1950, it seems with the objective of documenting the life of its working people. Out of this visit came two films: Village Hindou (Hindu Village) about the lack of water in an Indian village, and Vinden och floden (The Wind and the River), about river life of Kashmir.
The film begins with a quote (missing in the extract above) which summarises the vision of the film, “Når de tunge pramme stages op ad Jelum-floden, sker det under en storslået dialog mellem Allah, Mennesket og Skønheden. (When the heavy barges poled up the Jelum River, she does so in a magnificent dialogue between God, Man and beauty.)”
The music of the film, a blend Kashmir folk and India Classical, is by Ravi Shankar, who was yet to attain international acclaim back then. He was working with AIR at the time and probably artists form AIR station Srinagar were used for creating the sounds.
The film begins with scene of a Hindu ascetic mediating atop a hill in Srinagar. Down below, the city is brimming with scenes of lyrical songs of life. A life sustained by a river that quietly flows through it and weaving a web of ecology in which people seem to be at peace. A peace for which people thank their benevolent gods.
By Geoffroy Millias.
from ‘Irene Petrie : Missionary to Kashmir’ (1903).
At Shah Hamadan By Brian Brake, 1957
by Douglas Waugh (late 1950s, early 1960s)
From the book
“Tikkus’ tourist & shopping guide of Kashmir covering Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh ” (1970) by Bharat Tikku.
2008
“In the upper part of the city the banks are lined with houseboats in which the visitors live. But lower down these banks, which are sometimes twenty and thirty feet high, have a very interesting and varied life at the water’s edge, where you find laundrymen and laundrywomen at intervals all the way along, and bathers, sometimes composed of groups of men, others of groups of women, and again men and women together. As a rule this bathing takes place at the foot of some of the wide stone steps that lead up from the water to the upper level of the bank, and frequently in the vicinity of a temple or mosque. There are also a number of small bath-houses, without roofs, and divided into very tiny little cabinets that are hardly large enough for a single person. These are indulged in by the more fortunate, or the better-to- do classes, who constitute but a very small percentage of the total bathing population.
This bathing, too, is a very interesting process to witness, especially the dressing, for, while the men are rather indifferent as to how much or how little clothing they may have on, the women are exceedingly modest and rarely, if ever, is there the least exposure of any portion of the body besides the arms, and head and feet. They go into the river with one dress on and when they have bathed they have not only washed their bodies but the garments they have been wearing, and when they come out they have on the bank, or steps, another garment which they put on, and so skillful are they in making this change that it is almost impossible to tell how it is done. One moment they are clad in the wet, clinging clothes which they have worn in the river, and the next by a rapid sleight- of-hand transformation they are dressed in dry garments of most pleasing hue.”
~ ‘Our summer in the vale of Kashmir’ (1915) by Frederick Ward Denys
Praying at the river.
The pandit morning ritual.
A postcard by Lambert from 1920s.
Location (provided by a reader): Dabiyaar Ghat near mission school Fateh Kadal
The back side had a letter from an English lady talking about meeting Nehru and Gandhi.
The beauty of Shalimar and smelting summer of Delhi.
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While in some parts of India there are still issues like which caste can claim upstream and which caste can claim downstream of a river, the below image captures how Kashmiris, Muslims and Hindus (two women on right are Pandit) were sharing a river, probably without even realizing the significance of it.
‘Jhelum Ghat Scene’ by Brian Brake, 1957
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Won’t you come to the Yarbal dear?
I would wash your footlings;
My wounds are unhealed –
Come my Love.
