Rain, snowfall lash J&K, NH closed; 3 feared dead

A couple with kid, under one umbrella moves along road during rain in Srinagar on Saturday. —Excelsior/Shakeel
A couple with kid, under one umbrella moves along road during rain in Srinagar on Saturday. —Excelsior/Shakeel

Fayaz Bukhari/
Gopal Sharma
SRINAGAR/ JAMMU,  Feb 24:   Three persons are feared dead after they came under an avalanche in Lolab forest area of North Kashmir’s Kupwara district  today while rain across State  and snowfall on higher reaches of Kashmir  and parts of Jammu led to closure of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway for traffic after shooting stones between Ramban and Banihal this evening.
Senior Superintendent of Police Kupwara, Shamsher Hussain, told Excelsior that five persons from Lolab had gone for hunting in Lashkote- the top forest area of Darpora which connects Lolab and Bandipora forest areas two days ago.
He said this morning when they left for hunting in two different directions, three of them went missing whose footsteps were later traced by them to the avalanche that struck the forest area this morning.

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The two other hunters – Zameer Ahmad son of Mohd Sayed, a resident of Affan and Mohammad Akbar Mir son of Mohammad Subhan Mir tried to rescue them but after failing they travelled several kilometres to inform locals and police about the incident.
Those trapped under avalanche have been identified as Altaf Ahmad Mir son of Bashir Ahmad Mir, Bashir Ahmad Ganie son of Ghulam Rasool Ganie and Ghulam Mohammad Lone son of Ali Mohammad Lone all residents of Warnow, Lolab.
The SSP said that tomorrow Police parties with the help of locals will be dispatched to the area to launch a rescue operation. He said that the area is snow bound and 7-8 hours journey.
Meanwhile, with the rain, thunder and hail-storm  in many parts of  the region since early hours today, a sharp fall in the temperature has been recorded  in Jammu while Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was closed late this evening after  shooting stones/ boulders  at several places on the highway between Ramban and Banihal.
While during morning hours, there was little drizzle at some parts of  Jammu and its out-skirts but  during afternoon,  a good rain, hail and thunder storm was reported from many plain as well as hilly areas of Jammu region. Hail-storm was also reported from areas like Sainik Colony, Greater Kailash, Satwari, Bari Brahmana, Miran  Sahib and some parts of Bishnah and RS Pura during late this evening. It reportedly to has caused some damage to the crop as well.
A MeT spokesman said that the temperature in Jammu has shown sharp fall with the continuous rain and hail-storm in many areas while higher reaches of Pir Panjal and other parts of Ladakh experienced light snowfall. Jammu’ temperature this evening declined at least by five degree within last 24 hours.
He said Jammu recorded a maximum temperature of 23 degree Celsius today while on Friday the maximum temperature in Jammu was 27 degree C. It is expected to go down by at least two degrees more over night. He predicted rain at isolated and scattered places across the region in next 24 hours. Then from February 26 onwards, the weather will remain fair for the next four days, he added.
Holy township of Katra, recorded a maximum temperature of  18.2 degree C today and minimum 13.6 degree C, tourist resort of Bhaderwah  maximum 12.7 degree C and minimum 6.4 degree C, Banihal town maximum 8,9 degree C and   minimum 7.2 degree C while town of Batote experienced maximum temperature of 11.2 degree C and minimum 7.3 degree C temperature.
An official spokesman said that it was raining in Ramban and Banihal area since this afternoon and intensity of rain increased after 6.30 pm.  After reports of shooting stones at Panthial, Marog, Battery Chashma, Anokhi Fall and two three points between Ramban and Banihal, the Traffic Police authorities stalled the movement of vehicles on the highway on both the sides.
He said the highway was blocked and it will be restored after clearing stones and boulders as it was risky to engage men and machines on the job during night hours amidst rain. He said the movement of vehicles at Udhampur TCP and Nagrota Bypass near Jammu has been stopped.   The traffic will be allowed tomorrow only after review of the road condition, he maintained.
In the meanwhile, rains lashed Kashmir valley while hills received fresh snowfall today.
A Meteorological department official said that from 0830 to 1730 hours, Srinagar received 4.5 mm rain, Kupwara 3.0mm, Pahalgam 0.2mm, Qazigund 14.8 mm and Gulmarg 3.2mm.
“Light to moderate rain and snow will occur at many places over the state in next 24 hours,” the MeT official said.
On the basis of information received from Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), authorites here issued medium danger avalanche warning for Baramulla, Gulmarg, Furkian-Z Gali, Kupwara-Chowkibal-Tangdhar and Bandipora.
Low danger warning has also been issued for Poonch, Rajouri, Reasi, Ramban, Doda, Kishtwar, Udhampur, Anantnag, Kulgam, Budgam, Ganderbal, Kargil, Leh and Srinagar-Jammu National Highway. The people living in these avalanche prone areas have been advised by the Disaster Management Authority to take precautionary measures.
And in view of the inclement weather forecast, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, today convened a meeting with heads of different departments to review the preparedness to deal with inclement weather situation in the district.
Senior officers from Mechanical Engineering, Public Works, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, PDD, Irrigation and Flood Control, PHE, Fire and Emergency Services and UEED attended the meeting.
SE Mechanical Engineering informed the meeting that the department remains geared up throughout the period between November 15 and March 15, adding that 23 snowplows, including 13 for daytime snowing, remain placed on standby under the department’s contingency plan for the district.
Giving details of its preparedness for dealing with the inclement weather situation that might arise, Joint Commissioner SMC informed that the department has some 3800 men it mobilizes for snow clearance on pedestrian lanes across the Srinagar city, adding that 22 JCB machines, including 2 skid-steers, remain available to deal with exigencies.
The DC directed for ensuring that snow clearance machines are positioned at all critical spots and that these must be pressed into service as soon as snow starts to accumulate. He stressed on prioritizing snow-clearance from roads leading to important installations in the district. The SE R&B was asked to work in close coordination with the SMC as long as the weather situation lasts.
Dr Shah said water-logging as a result of snowfall or rains throws a major challenge in the district and that the concerned departments must be well-prepared to deal with it. He instructed for ensuring quick draining-out of water-logged areas including all interior roads and lanes.
The meeting was informed that all of 80 dewatering stations and 115 mobile pumping stations in the Srinagar city are operational and that all concerned personnel have been sensitized. JD F&ES said the department has also kept some of its pool of fire tenders and portable fire pumps available for water-logging exigencies in case there is a need.
Seeking details of stock position of essential commodities in the district, the DC was informed that the department has enough stocks available, including fuel for about a month and rice for about two months.
SE PDD informed the meeting that the department has a well-prepared contingency plan to deal with outages in the district. The DC stressed on earliest replacement of damaged infrastructure wherever required.
The DC directed all to be in a state of preparedness and responsive to any crisis thrown up by the inclement weather, instructing that all departments must strictly follow the standard operation procedure.

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