Jammu, August 7
More than 800 persons were evacuated to safer places in Ladakh, where flash floods triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 15 persons, including three Army personnel, officials said today.

The frontier region remained cut off from the rest of the country for the fifth day due to closure of both Leh-Srinager and Leh-Manali roads, while the Army had deployed about 300 jawans and officers and set up five “tented village camps” for relief and rescue work, they said.

“We have rescued 800 persons from submerged areas till now and provided food to over 2,000, most of whom have lost their houses to the flash floods. The Army is trying to reach out to people in all affected places,” defence officials said.

A major rescue operation was on in Leh and Kargil where the flood situation was “ very grim” with some 20 villages hit by flash floods and 22 bridges damaged, they said.

It was likely to become worse if the rains continued and all Army cantonments in Ladakh had been put on high alert. Several formations were providing food, medicines and shelter to the affected, they said.

The Crisis Management Squad, constituted for food control, said the floods had affected the entire arid mountainous region of Ladakh.

The defence officials said 15 persons had either been swept away in flash floods or died in incidents of house collapse since torrential rains lashed the region.

Phayang, some 20 km from Leh, was the worst affected with almost all families of the village rendered homeless, they said, adding that two Nepali labourers working near the village stream were reported missing.

Giving details, they said two persons were swept away in flash floods in Leh district last evening while three Army jawans and two Nepali labourers died in a cloudburst in Batalik sector of Kargil on Saturday.

Two children were buried alive when their house collapsed due to heavy rains and rising waters in the Zanskar area on Friday.

Rains had also hit nearby Jammu region where one person was swept away in flash floods in the Chenab river in Doda district while two others died due to house collapse and landslides in the Dalan and Mandi areas of Poonch district last evening.

Three persons were washed away in flash floods in the Basholi area of Kathua district on Friday. — PTI

Srinagar, August 7
At least 41 passengers were injured when a private bus turned turtle in Badgam district today, official sources said.

The bus was coming from Laberthat-Chandipora to Badgam district town when the driver lost control over the vehicle near the office of the Deputy Commissioner, the sources said. — PTI

Srinagar, August 7
Shops in the Dalgate area remained closed for the sixth day today as traders have alleged that the security forces deployed there were not allowing them to open the shops.

The shopkeepers alleged that security forces deployed in the area were not allowing them to open the shops since August 2 when two CRPF personnel were killed by militants on August 1.

Additional security forces have been deployed and almost all bylanes were barricaded in the area.

Security forces were searching vehicles and frisking pedestrians.

However, traffic on the main road was plying normally. Drivers have been asked to park the vehicles in the bus stand only. — UNI 

Jammu, August 7
The inquiry into the reports of a “man-made” Shivalingam at the Amarnath shrine in Kashmir is likely to suffer a set back as one of the key members of the shrine board, Mahant Deepinder Giri, has failed to appear before Mr Justice K.K. Gupta, who is holding the inquiry, to record his statement.

The mahant, who is custodian of the holy mace of Lord Shiva that leads the pilgrimage to the cave shrine, was critical of the “man-made” Shivalingam having been installed in the shrine. The natural ice lingam did not appear this year. He had threatened to boycott the pilgrimage if a judicial inquiry was not ordered into the reports.

Justice Gupta said the mahant was invited by the commission twice on July 30 and again on August 1, but he did not turn up on both days.

Efforts to contact the mahant on his mobile phone failed as he was “not reachable”. He was perhaps on his way to the cave shrine carrying the holy mace for puja on August 9, marking the culmination of the two-month pilgrimage.

Now it is certain that the commission will submit its report towards the end of this month after the pilgrimage concludes as the statement of Dr Arun Kumar, chief executive officer of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and Secretary to the Governor, is also to be recorded on August 10.

Earlier, it was expected that the report would come during the period of the pilgrimage that is scheduled to conclude on Wednesday on the day of Raksha Bandhan, but now the commission is likely to finalise the report by August 20.

Sources said the report of the commission was also getting delayed as it had sought opinion of a Delhi-based expert whether the lingam was made of the dry ice. He was expected to appear before the commission in a day or two.