19 October 2014 Last updated at 23:33

In pictures: Kashmir floods aftermath

Last month's floods in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 281 people and left the main city of Srinagar under water. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a "national disaster".

Photographer Abid Bhat chronicles the aftermath of the worst flooding in the region in half a century.

Large parts of the main city of Srinagar were inundated as flood waters came rushing in one night in September. Authorities evacuated nearly 200,000 people, but tens of thousands were marooned for several days.

The Jhelum river had flooded large parts of the city and forced residents onto rooftops. Once the waters began receding, some came out to survey their losses. Here, a man plies a makeshift raft in a neighbourhood still under water.

Residents of a house which collapsed during the deluge look for their belongings under the rubble. Nearly 180,000 houses were damaged during the floods.

The floods affected more than 1.2 million people in the state. Many, like this group of women, returned from relief camps to find that their houses were still submerged.

Private vehicles still lie submerged in stagnant floodwaters in the Rajbagh area of Srinagar.

Many residents like this woman continue to live in makeshift tent shelters while their homes remain flooded.

This family took shelter inside a truck after their house was submerged. They have now managed to return home.

In some places life is limping back to normal with traders clearing muddy water and debris from their flooded shops.

And as some people move back into their homes, they are cleaning their mud-caked utensils.

However, many have lost everything and long queues are seen daily outside relief camps, including at this one run by the separatist All Party Hurriyat Conference.

It is not clear when people living in shelters will be able to return home. And with winter closing in, the misery of the flood-affected people shows no signs of abating.