Incessant rains inundate roads, low-lying areas in Kashmir
Higher reaches receive fresh snowfall, Day Temp drops below normal
Srinagar: Heavy rains continued in Kashmir Valley on Monday, throwing normal life out of gear and inundating roads and low-lying areas while some higher reaches received a fresh spell of snowfall, officials said.
A meteorological department official here said that during the last 36 hours till 5:30 pm Monday evening, Srinagar received 46.2mm, Qazigund 78.4mm, Pahalgam 84.7mm, Kupwara 54.9mm, Kokernag 77.0mm, Gulmarg 41.9mm, Jammu 17.0mm, Banihal 85.2mm, Batote 41.7mm, Katra 21.4mm and Bhadarwah 34.2mm.
The incessant rains led to waterlogging on several roads, disrupting normal life. It also inundated many low-lying areas, reports said.
Regarding forecast, the MeT official said, generally cloudy weather with light to moderate rain with thunder is expected at many places on April 30.
“From May 1-5, generally dry weather with afternoon thundershower activity is expected at few places,” he said.
Regarding temperature, he said, Srinagar recorded day temperature of 8.8°C and it was 14.0°C below normal for the summer capital of JK for this time of the year.
Qazigund recorded a maximum of 9.0°C and it 13.4°C below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir, he said.
Pahalgam recorded a maximum of 6.3°C and it was 13.5°C below normal for the famous resort in south Kashmir.
Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded maximum of 9.4°C and it was 11.8°C below normal, the official said.
Kupwara town recorded maximum of 7.3°C and it was 15.8°C below normal there, the official said.
Gulmarg recorded maximum of 3.0°C and it was below normal by 10.6°C for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
Jammu, he said, recorded maximum of 24.0°C and it was below normal by 11.6°C for the winter capital of J&K.
Banihal recorded a maximum of 9.2°C, Batote 13.3°C and Bhaderwah 12.2°C, he said.
Water level rises
Srinagar: Kashmir Valley remained on the edge on Monday as the water level in the Jhelum kept on rising due to incessant rains. The water level was at touching distance of ‘alarm mark’ of 18-ft in south Kashmir’s Sangam gauge at 8 p.m.
“The water level recorded was at 16.91ft and as soon it crosses 21-ft mark, flood is declared,” said an official of Irrigation & Flood Control Department.
At Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar, the water was 14..00 ft against the alarm level of 18 ft and flood level of 21 feet, the officials said.
At Asham in northern Kashmir’s Bandipora district, the official said, the Jhelum level was at 14.0ft, almost 2.5-ft when flood alarm is sounded.
Regarding some tributaries, the official said, the water level in Vishow Nallah at Khudwani was 7.74m, 1.68 m in Rambiyara Nallah at Wachi while the nallah Lidder at Batkoot was at 0.60m.
Several areas of Bemina, one of the worst hit areas of Srinagar during once in a century floods in 2014, submerged.
Reports said the water from flood channel has seeped inside residential areas.
Meanwhile, the department has urged people not to panic and remain “calm”. “Please remain calm, there is no need to panic and don’t pay any heed to rumours,” the official added.
In the related development, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr. Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat, who is also the Chairman District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), chaired a meeting of concerned officers to review the flood control and mitigation preparations in the district.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Ashish Mishra was also present in the meeting.
KV News
