The army hasn't gone yet, but fights have started over relief material.
After nearly 10 days, people in parts of flood-ravaged Jammu have started on the long way home. So has the army. But the ones who should be take charge of the remaining relief camps, officials of the state government, are conspicuous by their absence.
At the makeshift camp in the senior secondary school in Jammu's Surya Chak, the only representatives of the government were two police constables. But when it came to managing fights that are already breaking out over relief material, they were woefully inadequate.
As the army began the process of winding down, chaos has replaced order. Men and women have started fighting over relief. And in that battle, no one is spared. A woman was seen snatching away clothes from a little girl. The child stood still for some time, eyes downcast, and then she walked away. She didn't cry. In times distress, tears are too precious to spend.
Not everyone fighting over relief material was a flood-hit inmate of the camp, though.
"These people aren't affected by floods, they are here to grab relief. I know because I am local," confided Binny Kumar, an inmate of the camp.
In absence of the state, the NGOs and locals have stepped in to keep up at least a semblance of order.
But there are others who have stepped into the breach as well. Like political parties and their front organisations, which are making a beeline for the camps, desperately attempting to claim credit.
From All India Manhass Mahasaba -- an organisation that openly supports a national political party -- to Lion J B Singh, a similar body, were out there in strength.
But their distribution of relief appeared to be solely for the benefit of cameras. When the camera moved away, so did they. "We are surveying the area, we will come back with relief later," said a representative of Manhass Mahasabha.
But locals claim it is organisations like these that are trying to reach out to them. Troubled times, obviously, make for easy converts.