Four drown, 1 missing as heavy rain, landslides wreak havoc in Jammu

Jammu, April 30

Four people drowned and one is feared dead in separate incidents after they fell into the swollen water bodies after heavy rainfall here, officials said on Tuesday.

The rainfall also triggered landslides at multiple places between Ramban and Banihal along the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway which remained closed for vehicular traffic for the second day, the officials said.

The drowning incidents were reported from Reasi, Ramban, Doda and Jammu districts late Monday evening. While four bodies were fished out by the rescuers, the search for a girl is still on, they said.

Jammu-Srinagar National highway remains closed

• Jammu-Srinagar NH remained closed till Tuesday evening due to landslide and shooting stones at multiple locations in Ramban district due to inclement weather conditions
• The restoration work on the NH is continuing since Monday when landslides were reported at Mehar, Mom Passi, Kishtwari Pathar and shooting stones at Panthyal, Gangroo and Hingni in Ramban district
• Due to the widening of the NH, landslides have become very common which brings the traffic to a halt for long stretches

‘No lessons learnt’

Initiatives such as comprehensive flood management programmes are the need of the hour. Omar Abdullah, Vice president, NC

Mohd Shafi (65) and Mumira Bano (17) accidentally fell into the fast-flowing waters while crossing the Deval and Dunga streams in Reasi, officials said. Shafi’s body was retrieved from the river, and efforts are on to locate Bano who had come from Gool to attend a marriage function in the village.

Kaushal Kumar drowned while crossing a stream at Gadhi Garh in the outskirts of Jammu city. The State Disaster Response Force and local volunteers recovered his body late afternoon, they said.

In Doda district, the body of Firdous Ahmad (13), a resident of Mallan-Dessa, was fished out from Kund Nallah on Tuesday morning. He was crossing the stream when he was swept away by the strong current, they said.

In another incident, the body of Yaqood Mir (13) was fished out from a river after he was hit by a rolling boulder from a hillock near his house in Karool area of Ramban, the officials said.

Heavy rains lashed wide parts of Jammu and Kashmir over the past couple of days, triggering landslides at many places and raising the level of water bodies. At least two dozen residential houses were also damaged in Kishtwar and Ramban districts.

In the Poonch district, four school children and two women were rescued by locals after they were left stranded due to flash floods in a stream when they were attempting to cross at Kalar Moda village in the Mendhar area on Monday evening, they said.

With the improvement in weather conditions on Tuesday, the officials said the restoration work on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was intensified to ensure its early opening for vehicular traffic.