5 buried alive, three washed away as rain batters Kathua

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, July 19

Eight persons were killed in landslides and flashfloods triggered by heavy rain in Bani tehsil of Kathua district in Jammu division on Wednesday.

In the first incident, five members of two families were buried alive after a landslide hit their houses at Surjan. As the affected area is inaccessible by road, the district administration sought the Army’s help for the rescue operation. The deceased have been identified as Zareena Begum (45), Shahbaz (14), Mohammad Asif (12), Nazia Bano (11) and Arbaz (3). “The houses belonged to Mushtaq Ahmed and Abdul Qayoom. It took several hours for the rescuers to clear the debris,” said an official.

In the second incident, three persons were washed away in a flashflood. The deceased were Sham Lal (45) of Bhullari, Naseema Begum (50) of Madhota and Ajay Singh (13) of Sitti, said the official. Bani Sub-Divisional Magistrate Satish Kumar said an ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 had been announced for the next of kin of the deceased. Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar chaired a meeting to review flood management measures. Union Minister Jitendra Singh has expressed grief over the casualties. As a precautionary measure, schools were ordered to remain shut in Kathua, Kishtwar, Doda and Rajouri districts on Wednesday.

Several roads and bridges have been damaged in Kathua following the downpour. The traffic on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway was diverted through interior roads when a bridge in Kathua was damaged due to flashfloods.

The pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi through the new track was suspended while the chopper service too was temporarily grounded. A fresh batch of Amarnath pilgrims, which started from Jammu towards Kashmir, was stopped in Ramban.