Dubai: The Consulate General of India in Dubai has set up a round-the-clock helpline for residents seeking assistance or information regarding the deadly floods in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The helpline – 0507347676 – was published on Wednesday on its website, cgidubai.com. Information can also be sought through kashmirhelpline@cgidubai.com.

Indian Kashmiri expats are desperate for news of loved ones as the destruction wiped out virtually all phone and internet connectivity. Private and state telecoms are trying to restore service, but warned it could be days before their networks return to normal.

Some 400 people have died in floods in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state and neighbouring Pakistan. Thousands of people have been left homeless and stranded on both sides.

The consulate will take queries from residents – mostly expected to be regarding missing or stranded family – and coordinate with authorities in India and officials in the flood-hit state.

Its website has also published control room numbers of India’s Home Ministry in New Delhi and helplines in the cities of Jammu and Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir.

However, many Kashmiris in the UAE reported they have been unable to get through to the helplines in India and Kashmir, which are apparently clogged with calls.

Some Indian news TV channels have opened up their own phone lines to help families reconnect or provide leads.

People who still have patchy mobile or internet access are posting SOS messages – their own or from strangers – on social networks such as Facebook and WhatsApp.

“We need information like we needs boats in Kashmir right now,” said Shabina, a Kashmiri woman in Sharjah.

“Not knowing what happened to family and friends back home is deeply unsettling. People are extremely disturbed, they are having nightmares.”

Meanwhile, expats are trying to coordinate relief initiatives for victims of the disaster. A gathering of Kashmiris is expected in Dubai’s Zabeel Park at 8pm on Thursday to discuss options in sending relief.

“I invite everyone to come so we can explore what can be done to help people hit by this humanitarian disaster,” said Altaf Farooqi, a UAE-based Kashmiri.

He added that some people have taken inflatable boats with them to Indian-administered Kashmir in a bid to rescue relatives trapped indoors.

The Indian army has deployed boats and helicopters to pluck marooned people from windows and rooftops of submerged homes.