Lightning, cloudburst in Kishtwar; 2 shepherds hurt, 4 sheep die

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Rains lash J&K; NH blocked, 3 houses damaged
Gopal Sharma/Fayaz Bukhari
JAMMU/ SRINAGAR, July 23: Rains continued to lash most parts of Jammu and Kashmir even as the weatherman today forecast more light to moderate showers and thunderstorms in next 24 hours while two shepherds were injured, their four sheep were killed and over dozen injured due to lightning and cloudburst in remote Keshwan area of Kishtwar.
The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway which was closed during early hours today due to heavy rain and landslides in Ramban sector was restored in the afternoon around 2 pm and yatra remained stranded for more than 4-5 hours in the sector.
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Due to heavy rain in parts of Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua and Ramban districts during morning hours, the rivers and Nallahs were over flooded. River Tawi and Chenab were also flooded and an alert was sounded in the low lying areas of Akhnoor and Jammu. In Udhampur area, four villagers trapped in a nallah in Barmeem were rescued by police with the help of locals.
Reports from Srinagar said that Srinagar City and other parts of Kashmir were lashed by heavy rains leading to flooding of roads. “Fairly widespread light to moderate rains and thunder showers over Jammu and Kashmir,” said a Meteorological department official regarding the forecast for next 24 hours.
For the subsequent two days, the MeT official said that there was a possibility of scattered to fairly widespread rains and thunder storms.
The official said the minimum temperatures recorded a slight increase at most places in Kashmir.
The MeT official said that Srinagar recorded a low of 22.2°C against 21.9°C the previous night. The temperature was 3.5°C above normal during this time of the year for city.
Qazigund recorded a low of 20.0°C against 18.2°C the previous night. The temperature was 3.0°C above normal there.
In Pahalgam, the mercury settled at 16.3°C same as recorded on the previous night and it was 3.3°C above normal for the South Kashmir resort. Kokernag recorded a low of 18.4°C against 17.4°C last night and it was 2.1°C above normal for the place, he said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of 13.2°C against 12.5°C and it was 1.1°C above normal for the north Kashmir place.
Kupwara town saw a low of 18.8°C against 18.2°C on previous night and it was 1.8°C above normal for the place during this time of the season.
Jammu recorded a minimum temperature of 23.7 degree Celsius, Bhaderwah 19.0 deg C, Batote 18.5 deg C, Katra town 22.2 deg C while Leh and a minimum temperature of 14.2 degree C today.
The chopper service to Katra-Vaishnodevi also remained suspended during morning hours due to rain and bad weather. However, it was restored in the afternoon.
Reports from Kishtwar said that due to lightning , followed by cloudburst, in the higher reaches of Keshwan forests near Gidhari Dhar at around 5.30 am today, two nomads were injured and their four sheep died. At least a dozen others were injured.
The injured persons were identified as Noor Mohd (24) and Jamal Din (28), both sons of Mohd Musa, resident of Bandi Keshwan. They were removed to nearby Army camp by the locals of the area and then to Government hospital in Thakari area. Their condition was stated to be stable. The villagers revealed that during lightning cloudburst also took place but due to its low intensity and no houses along the nallah, not much damage was caused.
In Koteranka area of Rajouri, three houses and a cattle shed were damaged in heavy rain last night while structure of Shamshan Ghar was washed away in flood in Sawari. Cattle-shed of Chamail Singh, houses of Zakir Hussain, son of Mohd Azam; Om Parkash, son of Hari Chand in Sawari and a Kucha house of Pritam Singh, son of Kiker Singh at Kanthol in Koteranka were damaged due to rain.
Meanwhile, the river Tawi was over-flooded but the water level remained maximum up to 10 ft during the mid day after that it started receding. However, the water level in Chenab river at Akhnoor was recorded as 29 ft between 1 and 2 pm during the day today. The general arlet was sounded in the low lying areas of Akhnoor, Pargwal and Phallain Mandal area by the Administration.