- Man found dead in floodwaters
- Flash floods devastate Kishtwar, Pulwama
- J&K records 44 pc deficient rainfall from June 1 to July 31
- Katra, Srinagar among four stations receiving heavy precipitation
Jammu Tawi, Aug 1: A wave of torrential downpour has wreaked havoc across the Jammu region, with Dachan in Kishtwar and Khrew in Pulwama facing flash floods that have submerged homes and shops, causing widespread damage and disruption. The relentless rains have brought some relief from the heat wave that gripped the region, but at a significant cost to infrastructure and safety.
In Jammu, the body of a 60-year-old man was pulled out from a river while two homes and a portion of a road were damaged here as heavy rain lashed large parts of the Jammu region on Thursday, officials said.
Though the rainfall provided relief from the hot and humid conditions, the downpour triggered landslides at several places on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway and disrupted traffic, besides submerging low-lying areas, the officials said.
A State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team retrieved the body of a 60-year-old man from the swollen Tawi river near Gujjar Nagar, they said.
The man’s identity and the cause of death were not immediately known.
Two homes collapsed and a portion of a road was washed away in the Bhatindi locality but there was no casualty, the officials said.
The Met office said Jammu district recorded 112 mm of rainfall during the 24 hours ended at 5:30 pm while Reasi district recorded 74.5 mm.
Katra town, the base camp for pilgrims visiting the Viashno Devi shrine, recorded 72.9 mm of rainfall during the same period, the weather office said.
The heavy rain left many roads waterlogged while residents in parts of Gandhi Nagar, Nanak Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Chatta and Akhnoor faced hardships after water from flooded nullahs entered their homes and shops.
The officials said traffic on the 270-kilometre Jammu-Srinagar national highway was halted for several hours owing to a mudslide at Hingni and intermittent shooting stones from the hillocks at Mehad, Panthiyal and Kishtwari Pather due to heavy rain all along the arterial road.
Traffic on the highway was restored around noon after road clearance agencies removed the debris, they said.
Jammu city recorded a maximum of 29 degrees Celsius, more than four notches below normal.
The minimum temperature was recorded at 24.1 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal, a Met spokesperson said.
The weather office has predicted wet weather for the Jammu division till August 10 with intermittent to moderate rainfall till August 5, followed by widespread rain for the following two days and scattered rainfall for another three days, the spokesperson added.
The authorities advised people to stay away from water bodies in all 10 districts of the Jammu division and avoid slide-prone areas as a precautionary measure.
Meanwhile, Srinagar and Gulmarg were the only stations in Kashmir where heavy rainfall has been recorded with summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir recording a precipitation of 25.0 mm from 08:30 AM to 5:30 PM while Gulmarg has received 18.6 mm rainfall during the period.
Pahalgam and Kupwara stations have however recorded just 2.6 mm rainfall and 1.6 mm rainfall respectively since this morning while the rest of the stations have not received any rainfall.
Nonetheless, Jammu and Kashmir has recorded a deficient precipitation of 44 per cent since June 1 to July 31.
According to the data shared by the local Meteorological department (MeT), there has been a deficit of 60.67 per cent rainfall in Kashmir division while Jammu division has recorded a deficit of 34.83 per cent from June 01 to August 01, 2024 morning.
The highest deficit rainfall has been recorded in Shopian with 85 per cent followed by Poonch with 82 per cent.
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir has recorded a deficient rainfall of 69 per cent while Anantnag, Budgam and Bandipora recorded a deficit precipitation of 60 per cent, 71 per cent and 73 per cent respectively.
Against the normal precipitation of 120.5 mm, Srinagar has received just 37.7 mm rainfall during the period. The data further reveals that Kupwara, Kulgam, Kishtwar and Doda have recorded a deficit rainfall of 65 per cent, 75 per cent, 72 per cent and 62 per cent respectively.
