45 IIIM inmates rescued from submerged hostel, 300 saved in Basohli
Flood water enters many localities, damages public property
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU/ SRINAGAR, Aug 24: Heavy rain wrecked havoc in Jammu, creating flood- like situation in many areas, causing damage to the public property while a bridge over Sahar Khud on Jammu-Pathankote National Highway near Kathua was extensively damaged due to flash flood today.
The massive flashflood also posed threat to the northern embankment/first pillar of the second bridge also on Sahar Khud, forcing District Administration and National Highway authorities to stop movement of vehicles on busy highway at around 1 pm.
Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
The officials alleged that due to illegal mining in Sahar Khud the pillars of the bridge in the middle got exposed and made easy for the flashflood water to further expose the base of the piers, causing damage to the bridge. The traffic was later diverted to Palli-Nagri-Kathua-Hatli Morh road. With this, massive traffic jam was created on this narrow road.
A MeT official said that Jammu recorded 190.4 mm rainfall during past 24 hours ending 8.30 am, the second-highest downpour this month in a century. The highest rainfall for August remained 228.6 mm, logged on August 5, 1926 while the previous second-highest was 189.6 mm on August 11, 2022.
Click here to watch video
At least 45 students of the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) were evacuated to safety in a joint operation by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and J&K Police after floodwater submerged the ground floor of the hostel complex, in Shakti Nagar area, on Canal Road in Jammu today.
District Administration Jammu after receiving information, deployed SDRF and police, equipped with boats to reach out the trapped students on the top of the three storey building, after more than six feet of water from the overflowing Ranbir Canal and adjoining water body entered their hostel buildings complex in the morning. The rescue operation continued for more than five hours and all the trapped students in the marooned complex were evacuated to safety.
Commandant SDRF IInd Bn, SSP Zahid Manhas said that several teams were deployed at IIIM, Tawi area, Udheywalla, Bhagwati Nagar and several other locations for the rescue operation after receiving emergency calls. He said with the help of boats, the SDRF teams rescued all the trapped girls from the IIIM hostel complex within four hours. He said there was no casualty at all although water level had gone up to six feet. But books, beddings and other articles of the students and belongings of the families staying in the staff quarters in the area suffered huge damage.
“The students were provided alternative accommodation by the IIIM authorities. The staff and SDRF teams mobilised all resources, including dewatering pumps to clear the area,” he added.
One of the students said her colleagues putting up in the ground floor suffered losses due to the flashflood.
“My room is located on the top floor but those in the ground floor immediately shifted to upstairs, leaving behind their belongings,” she said, adding they waited for at least 4-5 hours for getting shifted out of the submerged complex.
Normal life was disrupted in Jammu city because of the heavy downpour which led to overflowing of encroached Nallahs, and big drains rains, leading to inundation of roads/ lanes and flood waters entering houses at several places, including Janipur, Bhawani Nagar, Naseeb Nagar, Roop Nagar, Paloura, Muthi, Sharika Vihar, Talab Tilloo, Kabir Colony, Udheywalla, Sangrampur, Jewel Chowk, Canal Road, Bhagwati Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Nai Basti, Nanak Nagar, Preet Nagar, and Sanjay Nagar.
Boundary walls of several houses were also damaged, while more than two dozen vehicles/ bikes were swept away in the flashfloods. Many vehicles/ bikes, mostly parked in the lanes were washed away.
A portion of a road adjacent to a temple near Tawi bridge/ Bikram Chowk caved in, while a culvert on the exit gate of Jammu General Bus Stand also collapsed due to the heavy flashflood in Gandah Nallah. The locals and Flood Control staff alleged that due to the negligence of Smart City project staff in the area, the damage near temple at Bikram Chowk has occurred. They were already cautioned to remove the grills creating trouble in smooth flow of Nallah water.
The overflowing Nallahs and drains aggravated the situation in low-lying areas where the flood waters entered many houses and shops damaging boundary walls at several places and dozens of vehicles. The flood water also wrecked havoc in Excelsior Lane Janipur, Doordarshan Lane, Bhawani Nagar Lane, Roop Nagar near Aap Shambhu Gate, Upper and Lower Roop Nagar, Shivalik Puram and Muthi besides Ban Talab, Thathar Nallah. The movement of vehicles was stalled for several hours on this road during morning hours.
Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Rakesh Minhas said that at least 35-40 families were rescued and shifted to the safer places from the affected areas like Muthi, Roopnagar, Janipur, Kabir Colony, Talab Tillo, Anand Nagar and other areas. He said no casualty has been reported from any area but massive public property was damaged as flood water from lanes and drains entered their houses.
The DC said he along with his staff visited many localities and supervised the rescue operation. He said all the students from the hostel in the IIIM complex were rescued safely by SDRF men and police. The rescued families were also provided immediate assistance through concerned Tehsildars.
A senior official of the Traffic Police department said the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and Srinagar-Leh highway are open for traffic despite heavy rains, while the Mughal Road connecting Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region with south Kashmir’s Shopian and Sinthan road linking Kishtwar and Doda districts in Jammu region with south Kashmir’s Anantnag were closed due to landslides at different places. He said the traffic movement from Manda Hills road near Hari Palace, was also diverted to Panjtirthi-Sidhra bridge- Nagrota Bye-pass after a landslide struck during morning hours near Pir Baba. The road was later cleared. The traffic on Circular Road of Jammu also remained hit due to landslides at two places.
Due to falling of a few bounders a petrol pump of Hindustan Petroleum Company, located about 5 kms from Udhampur towards Chenani, on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was damaged this evening. However, no human loss was reported in the incident as the staff managed to flee the site.
Several roads including Ramnagar-Basantgarh, Pancheri- Landhar-Galiot and other link roads have been closed in Udhampur district. Reasi-Mahore road also remained closed at Lalani Nallah and Damni since last night but was restored in the evening on Sunday. At least half a dozen houses were damaged in Thathri, Gandoh and Marmat areas of Doda due to heavy rain since last night, but no human loss has been reported.
Reports from Kathua said that bridge near Logate Morh on Jammu-Pathankot highway was damaged in the middle due to overflowing of Sahar Nallah following heavy rains in Kathua district. The traffic on the highway was diverted through the alternate bridge. But this bridge was also closed after flood posed threat to the embankment of the bridge on the north side.
Dy Commissioner Kathua, Rajesh Sharma said that movement of vehicles on second bridge was also stopped at around 1.30 pm as precautionary measures because its north side embankment got exposed to flood water. And the Nallah also changed its way. He said the protection work has been launched by the NH authorities. The traffic was diverted via Palli-Nagri-Kathua road. He said another Kucha road through dry Sahar Khud near Railway bridge is also being created to save the time of the vehicles plying along the highway.
Replying to a question the DC said about 35-40 flood affected families in Kathua, Chak Drab Khan and Shibe Chak were rescued and shifted to a Satsang Bhawan. About 300 persons were rescued from Mandla village of Basohli. These people were provided immediate assistance including food and other items by the administration.
Reports said a portion of Old Kathua-Samba road was washed away near Sherpur due to flash flood and with this the connectivity to about a dozen border villages has been snapped.
Officials said water levels in major rivers and streams, including Basantar in Samba, Ujh and Ravi in Kathua, Chenab in Reasi and Akhnoor and Tawi in Jammu increased sharply, prompting the administration to put disaster response teams and local police on alert. The maximum water level in Tawi was over 12 ft during mid day at Jammu today. Ujh and Basantar also caused damage to the public properly. In Samba flood and rain water entered many houses in Ward 13. The flashflood and landslides forced closure of Samba-Mansar and Dyala Chak-Billawar road.
So far, there have been no immediate reports of casualties, but the rains have triggered landslides at several places in Jammu region and Gurez in north Kashmir, the officials said.
In Jammu region, Udhampur recorded the second highest 144.2 mm of rainfall followed by Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district, at 115 mm, Samba 109.0 mm, Kathua 90.2 mm and Srinagar recorded 13.5 mm of rainfall, an official said.
Meanwhile, Kashmir was lashed by heavy rains today leading to drop in the temperatures across the region.
The overnight rains lashed across Kashmir and continued till morning leading to drop in the temperatures across the region.
Srinagar recorded a maximum temperature of 24.6 degree Celsius today. It was around 8 notches down from yesterday’s 32.4 degree Celsius.
The rains led to multiple mudslides along Bandipora-Gurez road. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) opened the road for stranded vehicles today.
The 56 Road Construction Company and 32nd Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) units of the BRO carried out a rescue and clearance operation, deploying heavy machinery and manpower from 8 pm to 4 am.
Dozens of stranded vehicles and passengers were cleared in the eight-hour-long operation, an official said.
However, he said the traffic on the road remained suspended as a precautionary measure owing to the shooting of stones from the hillock overlooking the road at several points.
The Srinagar Meteorological centre, predicted intense rainfall with the possibility of cloudbursts, flashfloods, landslides and mudslides across Jammu and Kashmir, from August 23 to 27.
A spokesperson said all Government departments have been directed to remain on high alert.
Ensure that the field staff remain stationed at their respective headquarters and be prepared to provide immediate assistance, he said, adding all Tehsildars have been instructed to report immediately any loss of life or property due to prevailing weather conditions to the office of Deputy Commissioner without delay.
For any exigency, the general public was asked to contact the Police Control Room, district control Rooms and emergency response support system.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
