Srinagar: Leaving his family behind at a relief camp, Gulzar Ahmed swims every night to reach his house in inundated Gogji Bagh area and sleeps there to ensure that his belongings are safe.

As the ravaging flood of Kashmir has emptied the city of its dwellers, the burglars in Srinagar are having a field day.

“Four members of my family stay in a relief camp, but every night I swim back to my house and prefer to sleep under the roof to take care of our belongings,” said Gulzar Ahmad a resident of Gogji Bagh area.

On September 7, when the floodwater started to enter these localities, the residents had to abandon their houses in a hurry leaving these houses vulnerable to thieves.

The state government too says that many people who were concerned about the safety of their houses refused to be rescued and preferred to stay back there.

“Many people even refused to be rescued as they wanted to take care of their houses.

“In many areas where the water level has receded people are now returning to their houses,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had said.

Since last Tuesday, when Abdul Hamid was rescued by the army after his house was inundated in Jawahar Nagar area, he regularly comes to keep an eye on his house.

“Though a large portion of my house is still under water, I regularly come here to keep an eye on the house. I am concerned as the incidents of burglaries have increased in this area,” said Hamid.

The residents here say that for the initial few days after the flood, there was no law and order in the city and the burglars already robbed many houses.

“Two days ago we noticed a few burglars wading into waist high water as they tried to break into a house.

“We raised alarm and they somehow managed to escape,” said Karanjeet Singh, a resident of Allochi Bagh locality.

With large portion of many houses still submerged, many people are putting their lives at risk to return to their houses.

The flood-hit residents in the Srinagar city say that they have lost everything, but they will try their best to save whatever they are left with from falling into the hands of burglars.