Northlines Newsdesk
Jammu Tawi: Eight people, including 2 soldiers, lost their lives in a tragic sequence of incidents caused by heavy rain and landslides across the Jammu region. Similarly, one individual lost their life due to adverse weather conditions in the neighbouring region of Ladakh.
Incessant rainfall had triggered flash floods and landslides in different parts of J&K and Ladakh Union Territories, but by Sunday afternoon, the weather improved. The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained closed for a second consecutive day on Sunday after a massive landslide washed away the road near the newly built Panthyal tunnel.
In Poonch, rescue teams recovered the bodies of two soldiers who had drowned in a swollen stream. They were identified as Naib Subedar Kuldeep Singh and Lance Naik Telu Ram, both posted with the 16 Rashtriya Rifles. The soldiers had been swept away Saturday while crossing the stream in Poshana village of Surankote in Poonch.
“During an area domination patrol in the difficult terrain of Poonch, L/Nk Telu Ram, while crossing a mountainous stream, got swept away due to flash floods,” a Defence spokesman said in Jammu. “Nb Sub Kuldeep Singh, the patrol leader, while attempting to save L/Nk Telu Ram, also laid down his life,” the spokesman added.
Three persons were killed and one injured when a car they were travelling in skidded off the road and rolled down into a deep gorge on Mughal Road. Police said four persons were in the ill-fated car, which was on its way from Shopian towards Surankote (Poonch).
“Three of them including one female were killed in the mishap while the injured lady, after being rescued from the spot, has been shifted to the hospital,” said police. They added that the identities are being ascertained and more details are awaited.
In Doda, two persons were killed after a landslide hit a passenger bus, a senior police officer said. The bus came under the landslide triggered by rains at village Bhangroo on Thathri-Gandoh road, Superintendent of Police, Bhaderwah, Vinod Sharma said.
He said a rescue operation was launched and three trapped passengers were evacuated to Gandoh hospital where Amir Sohail of Kahara and Mudassar Ali of Changa-Bhalessa were declared brought dead. Shahid Hussain of Kuntwara village has been admitted to a hospital.
In Kathua, as many as 59 people were rescued by the joint team of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local police from flash flood hit water bodies triggered due to incessant rains. However, one person was also found dead in the district.
Police said that as soon as information was received about the trapped persons, SDRF and a police team led by Senior Superintendent of Police, Kathua Shivdeep Singh Jamwal launched the rescue operations. The rescue operations were launched in Ujj, Ravi, Bhini and Tarnah water bodies across Kathua district wherein 59 people were trapped.
They said that five people were rescued at Jasrota near Ujj Barrage, six rescued from Haria Chak, 13 from Saidpur, 35 from Dabbowal while an elderly man was also found dead in Dinga Amb area as he was swept away in the flood in Tarnah Nala.
A red alert has been issued for Kathua and Samba districts along with lower catchment areas amid incessant rains in the region for the third consecutive day on Sunday.
A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rains of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rains of 6 cm to 20 cm of rain.“All concerned are advised to stay alert during the next 24 hours,” a spokesperson of the meteorological department said.
He said widespread rain was experienced in Kathua, Samba and at some places of Ramban, Doda, and Udhampur districts overnight. “More rain is very likely in Kathua, Samba, and at some places of Ramban, Doda and Udhampur districts during the next 12 hours before overall improvement from July 10,” the spokesperson said.
A police official said almost all water bodies, including Chenab, Ravi, Tawi and Neeru, are in spate and have crossed the danger mark at several places. However, there was no report of flood-related damage from anywhere, he said.
In Kupwara , two minors were rescued from the Pohru stream on Saturday, but another minor remained missing. On Sunday, the Marine Commandos (Marcos) joined the search operation for the missing girl.
In the UT of Ladakh, a man was killed when a boulder hit his vehicle on the Srinagar-Ladakh national highway. The incident took place at Pandrass village of Kargil district. Kargil and Leh districts have witnessed unusually heavy rainfall over the past two days.
Meanwhile, the weather improved significantly after two days of rainfall that caused floods at various places and dropped the temperature all across Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
“The overall improvement in weather is expected from July 10”, the Meteorological office said, adding light rain may occur at isolated places. It said the weather will remain mainly dry from July 11-15.
The weather will remain generally cloudy on Sunday in both Jammu and Kashmir. However, a brief spell of rain in some isolated places can't be ruled out.
The day and night temperatures in Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a nose dive, while Srinagar witnessed a 13-year low of a maximum 19.2°C on Saturday.
The previous lowest recorded day temperature was witnessed on July 22, 2010 at 18.0°C.
Srinagar received rainfall of 1.0mm, Qazigund 31.8mm, Pahalgam 17.4mm, Kupwara 0.0mm, Kokernag 34.0mm, Gulmarg 3.0mm, Banihal 28.2mm, Batote 58.8mm, Katra 19.2 mm, and Bhaderwah 125.1mm during the past 24 hours until 0830 hours on Sunday, the MeT office said.
Srinagar recorded a low of 14.9 °C, which was 2.8°C below normal for the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, the MeT office said.
Qazigund, on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, recorded a low of 14.0 °C, which was 2.1°C below the normal of 17.7°C for the gateway town of the Kashmir Valley.
Pahalgam, had a low of 9.6 °C, and it was below normal by 2.2°C for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir.
Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at 14.8 °C, while the picnic hot spot of Kokernag in south Kashmir recorded a low of 13.1°C, which was 1.3°C and 2.6°C below normal for both places, respectively.
Gulmarg recorded a low of 8.5 °C, which was 3.3°C below normal for the world-famous skiing resort in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, the MeT office said.
