Jammu-Sgr NH, Doda-Kishtwar road blocked
* MeT predicts very heavy rain, yatra remains suspended
*Many sub-divisions, blocks still without power supply
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Sept 2: After heavy rain in many parts of Jammu region, rivers Chenab, Tawi, Ujh and Ravi were flowing closer to danger mark while Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and Batote-Doda-Kishtwar road have been blocked again due to fresh landslides at multiple places, whereas, Mata Vaishnodevi and Shiv Khori Yatras remained suspended for the past more than one week.
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MeT office has predicted heavy to very heavy rain in most of the districts of Jammu region including Jammu, Kathua, Reasi, Rajouri, Udhampur and Ramban areas during next 16 hours with the possibility of flash-floods, landslides and cloudbursts at some places. It also forecast a spell of moderate to heavy rain in the areas like Poonch, Kishtwar and three districts of South Kashmir during next 14 to 16 hours. An alert has also been sounded by the Government for the general public in the region.
Meanwhile, another unidentified male dead body was recovered from the cloudburst-hit area of Paddar in Kishtwar on Monday. The body was shifted to GMC Jammu by the police authorities from Atholi late Tuesday evening, a senior police official said.
Official sources said that River Tawi was flowing at the danger mark of 14 ft late this evening and after this, the authorities stopped movement of vehicles on 4th Tawi bridge, which had suffered some damage recently. The increasing water level in Tawi has posed major threat to the Ware House, some areas of Gandhinagar, Satwari and Chatha and low lying villages as during previous flood, major damage had been caused to the bund near temple, just closer to the main Tawi bridge towards Bikram Chowk. Necessary protection work is yet awaited there.
Mighty Chenab River was also flowing at the alert mark of 33 ft at 10 pm tonight, just 2 ft below danger mark on Tuesday at Akhnoor. Its water level was continuously increasing since afternoon. In view of heavy rain in the upper reaches the flood gates of Salal Hydroelectric Project in Reasi and Baglihar dam in Ramban were opened by the Dam authorities. Even in Doda, Ramban, Mahore and Reasi areas, it was raining heavily and level of water in both the dams had gone high.
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The District Administration Jammu, besides authorities in Akhnoor and Khour Sub Divisions have sounded alert for the low lying areas and people have been asked to remain alert during next 24 hours. The teams of NDRF. SDRF, Home Guards and Civil Defence and Police have been put on high alert.
An official said that traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was suspended again on Tuesday amid torrential rains which lashed wide parts of the region, triggering land and mudslides along the highway. Due to sinking of a major portion of land at Thrad between Udhampur and Chenani, the highway has been badly damaged. Fresh landslides at Maroog in Ramban and also point near Samroli, the highway has been totally blocked. The official said due to continuous rain the restoration work could not be carried out.
He further disclosed that due to massive landslide near Pul-Doda and three other places along Batote-Kishtwar road, the movement of the vehicles along this highway has been suspended. In Pul-Doda area flood level of Chenab has increased closer to the bridge and movement of the vehicles has been stopped.
The Jammu- Srinagar highway was partially restored for stranded vehicles only on late Sunday evening after remaining closed for six days and accordingly most of the stranded traffic, including trucks carrying essential commodities to Kashmir were cleared, the officials said.
According to MeT department, Kathua district recorded the highest 25.2 mm of rainfall during past 24 hours ending 8.30 am Tuesday followed by Jammu 17.8 mm, Batote in Ramban 17.6 mm and Katra 15.8 mm.
In Kashmir valley, Qazigund recorded overnight rainfall of 23.2 mm, Gulmarg in north Kashmir 14.8 mm, Pahalgam in south Kashmir 11.4 mm and Srinagar 6.1 mm, the MeT office said.
Meanwhile, braving incessant rains, the Army on Tuesday started the construction of a Bailey bridge along National Highway-244, over the Jangalwar stream, to provide connectivity to Doda and Kishtwar districts.
This is the second such bridge being constructed by the Army in the wake of last week’s record rainfall that has left behind a trail of death and destruction in the region.
“Devastating floods in the Jammu region have submerged vast areas, sweeping away homes, bridges and fields. NH-244, the lifeline to Doda and Kishtwar, was washed away near Thathri, crippling mobility and cutting off villages,” the Jammu-based White Knight Corps unit of the Army said in a post on X.
It said the engineer troops of the Army are currently carrying out mobilisation of bridging stores and building a Bailey bridge over Doda’s Jangalwar Nallah, aiming to restore partial connectivity at the earliest.
Ramban district administration has also roped in the Army to raise a temporary Bailey bridge at Batti. A bridge at Batti was recently washed away by flash floods in the Chenab, affecting connectivity to Gool sub-division, parts of Ramban tehsil and several strategic national projects.
Army engineers visited the site to ensure early restoration of the vital connectivity link to Gool sub-division.
It is pertinent to mention here that at least 130 people, mostly pilgrims, were killed and over 120 injured, while 33 remained untraced following cloudbursts, landslides and flash floods in Kishtwar, Kathua, Reasi and Ramban districts since August 14.
The record rainfall on August 26-27 also caused flash floods in low-lying areas of Jammu and other plains, causing widespread damage to public and private properties.
A senior official from Katra said that the bustling Katra base camp and route leading to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine wore a deserted look as the pilgrimage to the temple in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district remained suspended for the eighth straight day on Tuesday.
Fresh rainfall was witnessed in Katra and Trikuta hills, the abode of the shrine, on Tuesday.
The yatra has been suspended as a precautionary measure in the wake of adverse weather conditions, officials said, adding the tracks have been closed for all movement.
Although necessary repairs have been completed, the decision to resume the pilgrimage will depend on improvement in weather conditions and the safety of pilgrims, they said.
The pilgrimage to Shiv Khori in district Reasi has also been suspended in view of land slides and falling of boulders.
In view of the threat to buildings along landslide-prone areas in Katra base camp, the administration has identified 80 vulnerable structures, including 15 hotels, and vacated them as a safety measure.
“There are no pilgrims in these hotels or structures now,” the official said.
Reports from Rajouri said that continuous heavy rainfall followed by landslides has caused extensive damage to residential houses, cattle sheds, vehicles, and livestock in various parts of Rajouri district. The affected areas include Thannamandi, Koteranka, and Qila Darhal, where several families have suffered losses to property and belongings.
In Sub-Division Thannamandi, the house of Murtaza Khan, son of Abdul Qayoom of Barhoon was severely damaged, while another house belonging to Mohd Javid, son of Mohd Shafie of Shahdra was also affected. Similarly, in village Lah, the house of Mohd Altaf, son of Nissar Hussain suffered damage, and an Alto car parked in the locality was completely damaged last night due to a landslide.
In Koteranka Sub-Division, multiple incidents of damage were reported where both Kacha and Pucca houses, as well as cattle sheds, collapsed under the impact of heavy rains. The Pucca house of Mohd Shakeel, son of Mohd Shafi was damaged, while the Kacha house of Mohd Shabir, son of Mohd Shafi also suffered losses. The cattle shed of Mohd Shafi, son of Din Mohd collapsed, and similar damage was reported to the houses of Mohd Aslam and Mohd Qayoom, both sons of Israil. The cattle shed of Manzoor Hussain son of Israil, as well as that of Gani son of Dawood, also collapsed due to the rains. In addition, Talib Hussain, son of Baga lost one buffalo in the calamity.
Meanwhile, in Qila Darhal area of Nowshera , three residential houses were reported damaged as a result of the heavy rainfall.
Meanwhile, in view of the impact of rains and floods to the public property, also due to the illegal mining, the Geology and Mining department has restricted the mining activities in all the rivers and nallahs in the JKUT.
The flood threat to Bhabbar Brahmana, Rasialan, and Chumbhiyan villages in Reasi district has increased due to flooded Chenab river and the scared villagers are passing sleepless nights.
The villages of Bhabbar Brahmna, Rasialan, and Chumbhiyan, located about 30 Kms from Reasi district headquarters, have been under severe threat from floods in the Chenab River. The local former sarpanch said that district administration of Reasi has been forwarding the concerns of the people to successive governments, MLAs and even to the Central government, however, despite these efforts, no ground-level action has been initiated so far.
Reports from Kathua said that heavy rain was reported in the upper reaches and the main rivers including Ravi and Ujh besides other Nallahas were over flooded. General alert was sounded in the low lying areas. It said Lakhanpur-Billawar and Lakhanpur-Basohli-Bani-Bhaderwah roads were still closed and over 70 per cent area in the district was still without power. Fresh rain caused land slides along Basohli-Bani road and the restoration work ahead of Bhoond town also suffered setback.
Reports said even most of areas in district Reasi were without power supply and same was the condition in district Kishtwar and most of the rural areas of Rajouri, Udhampur and Ramban. Many former Sarpanchs and other public representatives dismissed the PDD officials’ claims of the restoration of power supply in more than 90% areas of the region.
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