Flood wreaks havoc in Jammu, weather likely to improve today

Srinagar/Jammu, Sep 4 (IANS) Floods across the Jammu division wreaked havoc over the last 24 hours; however, with no rainfall, the water level in rivers of Kashmir started receding on Thursday morning.

Officials said two persons were killed when their house collapsed in Rajouri district, while a driver and his vehicle were washed away in the Ban Talab area of Jammu on Wednesday.

BSF troopers using helicopters rescued 47 villagers trapped in the heavily flooded Chenab River in the Garkhal area of the Pargwal sector in Jammu district.

Infrastructure related to roads, water, and electric supply suffered massive damage in the Jammu division during the last 24 hours.

The Chenab River was flowing about 8 to 9 ft above the danger mark at Akhnoor in Jammu district, while the Tawi River reached closer to the danger mark (16 ft). Ravi, Ujh, Basantar, Devak and Tarnah flowed at flood level this morning.

Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, Batote, Kishtwar and Mughal roads remained closed due to massive landslides.

Teams of NDRF/SDRF and police were deployed at inundated and flood-prone areas of the Jammu division.

In Rajouri district, a woman and her daughter lost their lives after a wall and some other portion of their house collapsed during heavy rain at Kagri village in the Sunderbani area. Both were sleeping when the incident took place.

The driver of a Tata Mobile load carrier was washed away along with his vehicle in a Nallah near the CRPF Camp in the Ban Talab area of Jammu.

Meanwhile, as the water level continued to rise in the swollen River Tawi in Jammu city during the morning hours, authorities launched a multi-agency operation to shore up embankments near the damaged fourth bridge to prevent flooding in the low-lying areas. Heavy rain in Jammu and its upper areas, like Udhampur and Ramnagar, had damaged the approach road near the fourth Tawi bridge, causing vehicles to get stuck on the broken stretch on August 26.

Jammu city has also been cut off from three main road stretches due to landslides on the Panjtirthi-Sidhra road, mudslides on the Manda-Nagrota road, and the closure of one bridge on the River Chenab at Akhnoor. Many Jammu localities were flooded with rainwater, while floodwater from many nallahs entered the houses and shops of the people. Areas like Kabir Nagar, Talab Tiloo, Bathindi, Channi, Nanak Nagar, Canal Road, Rajiv Nagar, Satwari Nai Basti, Ban Talab, Lower Roop Nagar, Janipur, Paloura, Muthin, etc., suffered heavy losses.

Many City areas remained waterlogged throughout Wednesday, disrupting the smooth movement of traffic. Officials said that Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, Batote- Doda-Kishtwar, Jammu-Katra-Reasi-Mahore, Akhnoor-Rajouri-Poonch, Kathua-Basohli-Billawar and Bani roads, besides many other roads in the region, have been closed due to multiple landslides.

Hundreds of vehicles are stranded at various places on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.

In the Valley, authorities started preventive evacuation of people from flood-affected areas of Kulgam, Anantnag, Pulwama and Srinagar districts, moving them to relief shelters, while many residents of these areas preferred to move to the houses of their relatives located at safer locations.

There had been no rainfall in the Valley during the last 24 hours, and the water level in all rivers and streams started receding this morning. All educational institutions, including schools, colleges and universities, have been closed by the authorities for the day as a preventive measure.

The Meteorological (MeT) department has forecast improvement in the overall weather situation throughout the union territory from Thursday onwards.

--IANS

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