As waters of Jhelum flow dangerously high, Omar Adbullah govt goes into a huddle

The water level at Pampore has also breached the danger mark at 5.19M against the 4.5M and 5M flood alert and danger level. Meanwhile, Chenab was at 43.5 ft in the evening — about 1.5 ft above the evacuation level.

With the UT’s rivers in spate, several areas are now flooded. In South Kashmir’s Kulgam district, the Vishow stream, one of the major tributaries of Jhelum, has flooded several areas. The I&FC data shows that at 2 pm, Vishow was overflowing at Khudwani at 11.20 M as against the flood alert level of 7.75M and damage mark of 8.50M.

The water level in the Doodhganga canal, which originates from the upper reaches of Budgam and flows through Srinagar, has also risen dangerously, forcing the administration to divert its water through the flood spill channel.

With Jhelum water still rising, several areas of South and Central Kashmir now stare at floods, with electricity snapped off at several places.

Kashmir had last seen devastating floods in 2014.

However, according to officials, there is no need to panic just yet, especially for Srinagar. “The water levels are increasing but it would be an exaggeration to compare it with 2014 water levels,” one official said. “We still have a good water holding capacity in Dal Lake and can divert some water to the flood spill channel as well. As of now, our focus is south Kashmir.”

In Jammu, the rain and flash floods have also disrupted rail and road services. With several tracks being water logged, the Northern Railways has suspended the shuttle services of four trains between Jammu and Katra, and short terminated trains from New Delhi to Katra.

The special train services had been instituted from September 1 until 15 to facilitate movement of daily passengers and stranded pilgrims.

“Due to heavy rainfall and water flowing over the track, the shuttle services will remain cancelled today,” one official said, adding that 68 trains from Jammu and Katra have been called until September 24.

However, special trains continue to ferry stranded passengers from Jammu to their destinations, with 5,784 stranded passengers having been ferried in seven special trains in the last four days, officials said.

Meanwhile, a mother-daughter duo was killed after their house collapsed in Rajouri district’s Kangri village near Sunderbani. They have been identified as Sita Devi and her daughter Sonia.

Scores of people are reportedly trapped at various places in Akhnoor sub-division, with rescuers from Jammy and Kashmir State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and police redoubling efforts to move them to higher ground.

As bad weather continues, the UT administration has ordered all schools to be closed until September 5. Meanwhile, authorities are keeping a close watch as the meteorological department predicts heavy to very heavy rains across Jammu province in the 14-16 hours.

The flood in several parts of the union territory forced the Jammu & Kashmir government into a huddle. At a meeting he chaired Wednesday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told his administration to “stay on high alert, intensify ground response and to ensure timely evacuation” from the critical areas.

He also called for close coordination with disaster response agencies, police and health departments and to maintain readiness for any eventuality and sought cooperation from the people by following the advisories issued by the government.