Officials busy receiving calls at the flood control room in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Sept. 9: Kundan Kumar has made at least 10 calls in the past two days for news of his brother stuck in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir and he is getting more frantic by the second.

A 22-year-old student in Patna, Kundan is among the several residents calling the helpline numbers of the state disaster management department since Monday.

“Today (Tuesday), the phones are just busy and I am not able to talk to the representatives. My elder brother, Roshan, is a CRPF jawan with the 19th battalion posted in Anantnag, Jammu. He called us last on September 5. He sounded tense and was close to tears. He said he was stuck on the third floor of a building and water had reached the second floor. We have not been able to contact him since then,” he told The Telegraph.

Heavy rainfall and the resultant landslide and floods — the worst to hit Jammu and Kashmir in six decades — has taken the toll up to at least 200. Bihar is quite aware of the trauma floods bring and families are now waiting with bated breath for news of their near and dear ones trapped in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to data with the state disaster management department, close to 400 people are stuck in the northern state. On Monday, the disaster management department released three helpline numbers (0612-2217305, 0612-2217303 and 0612-2217304). An official, however, said only 0612-2217305 was working on Tuesday, as the remaining two have hit a technical snag.

“We have received at least 200 calls since Monday. We are creating a database of the callers. The control room is in contact with the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir. All the callers want to know the status of their near and dear ones stuck in the state,” an official in the department said.

R.K. Choudhary, a resident of Bhagalpur, is among the frightened ones. He has no information of his daughter and son-in-law since Saturday.

“They were on their way to Jammu when they called me from Delhi on Friday. They were about to board the train. Since Saturday, I have not heard from them and cannot even contact them. Finally, I called the helpline number on Monday where the officials told me they were in touch with the army. But they did not give me any number I can call in Jammu to know about my daughter. I just do not know what to do but stare at the phone. I am calling their numbers every few minutes. I am so worried,” Choudhary, in his 50s, said.

The state government has announced a relief of Rs 10 crore for Jammu and Kashmir. Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said the money will be given from the chief minister’s relief fund and dry food items and boats will also be sent to the flood-hit state.