By Abu Arqam Naqash and Adnan Abidi MUZAFFARABAD/SRINAGAR (Reuters) - The heaviest rains to fall on Kashmir in 50 years caught Indian and Pakistani authorities off guard, with criticism of their disaster preparedness growing on Tuesday as the number of dead hit 420 and thousands remained trapped on rooftops. On the Indian side of the heavily militarized de facto border that divides the Himalayan region, more than 2,000 villages and the city of Srinagar were submerged. "The damage is shocking, people have been stranded on rooftops of their homes for the last three days in some parts of Kashmir," a senior official of National Disaster Response Force said in New Delhi. The official, who requested anonymity, said he would have deployed disaster response teams in Kashmir before the floods if his office had been given accurate weather predictions.
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September 9th, 2014
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