(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Parminder Singh carefully lifted one of the bloated bodies from his boat as he described the horrors confronting Kashmir residents after the worst floods in a century.
After days of trying and with waters receding, Singh finally managed to return to his house in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar on Tuesday, but his heart sank on arrival. "My house was collapsed, gone, and I saw limbs floating under the debris," a pale and shaking Singh said as he placed the body, one of two he had discovered on his trip, on an embankment.
Singh, a businessman, said he was not at home when the floods hit on September 7, destroying buildings and leaving his family fighting for their lives.
Singh did not want to talk in detail about his family, whose fate is unknown, but a friend pulled out a postcard-sized photo of Singh's two children no more than five years old.
Floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains hit the northern Himalayan region and submerged hundreds of villages.
The waters are now receding, revealing broken homes, mounds of rubbish and dead animals.
The stench of rotting carcasses is overwhelming, and doctors fear an outbreak of disease from the dirty waters left behind.
In the city of one million people, at least three shallow graves were seen on embankments.
A high school in the Hyderpora area has been turned into a relief centre, staffed entirely by residents and Kashmiris who have flown into the region to help, with no government officials in sight.
"In a day I removed 30 (dead) dogs, one horse, two cows and six truckloads of garbage," said volunteer Bilal Bhat, who has been trying to clean up his neighbourhood, after gaining use of a boat.
Several hundred people are sleeping in the courtyard of the school, and receiving basic medical assistance, water and other relief.
Swati Jha, with aid group AmeriCares, said the greatest fear now was an outbreak of disease.
"The most urgent need is to clean the water and burn the carcasses. We are looking at diseases like cholera and typhoid," said Jha.
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