Snowed in, J-K sends out SOS

Officials said 22 people were feared killed after an avalanche hit Danogan village in Poonch’s Barachar sector.

According to Shakeel Beig, SSP, Police Control Room (Jammu), eight houses collapsed in Danogan, but rescue operations had to be halted due to heavy snow. ‘‘The area has been completely cut off, no help can reach there,’’ said Beig.

In Poonch’s Loan Mandi area, 18 people were reported dead after an avalanche crashed into Arigam village this morning.

Sources said all 14 houses of the village were buried under snow, and 13 bodies had been recovered till evening.

Officials said seven personnel of the Border Road Organisation (BRO) and two civilians, who had been buried in an avalanche near Ramban on Friday, were also feared dead.

According to Satvir Gupta, DIG, Udhampur-Doda, three others who had been buried under snow in Kishtwar yesterday, are still missing.

In Digdiol area near Ramban, special police officers today rescued five civilians who were caught in an avalanche.

Meanwhile, the Jammu-Srinagar Highway remained blocked for traffic for the fifth consecutive day, leaving more than 4,000 passengers stranded. DIG Gupta said that 15-20 trees had also fallen on the road, further clogging the route.

In the Valley, stocks of fuel and essential commodities have dipped forcing the state government to approach the Defence establishment.

If weather permits, the IAF will send flights loaded with vegetables to Srinagar tomorrow, said a Defence spokesperson.

‘‘We will try to fly as many sorties as possible to transport around 40 tonnes of vegetables. The state government wants only vegetables flown in. Today, the airport runway was cleared by a special team from the Border Road Organistaion,’’ the spokesperson said.

Besides, the Army today distributed 75,000 litres of petrol in the Valley and deployed jawans to clear the main arterial roads of Srinagar, especially those leading to hospitals.

However, downtown Srinagar, where over 75 per cent of the city’s population lives, is stilll cut off, with all roads blocked by snowfall. One person died and another was injured after they fell from the rooftop of a house where they had climbed to clear the snow.

According to Nayeem Akhtar, Secretary to Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, cooking gas and fuel are the main problems in the Valley. ‘‘IOC, BPC and BPL have almost exhausted their stocks. There are just 378 kilolitres of petrol and 2,013 kilolitres of kerosene left,’’ he said, adding that the diesel situation is better at 3,770 kilolitres.

Akhtar said the shortage of LPG is the main worry. ‘‘Hindustan Petroleum has 415 metric tonnes of LPG available in the Valley. All others have exhausted their stocks,’’ he said.

Over 400 tankers carrying petrol, cooking gas, diesel and kerosene are stuck on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, said Akhtar. The Army is learnt to have provided the civil adminstration with 65 kilolitres of kerosene to tide over the immediate crisis.

All the major towns of south and north Kashmir remained cut off from Srinagar too, with Kulgam and Shopian in the south recording about 12 feet of snow.

Two snow-related deaths were also reported from here even as tourist hotspots Gulmarg and Tangmarg received 14 and five feet of snow, respectively.