After days of relentless torrential rains that battered Jammu and Kashmir, the deluge finally came to a halt late Wednesday evening, leaving behind a trail of destruction and a daunting challenge for the residents to rebuild their lives.
Amid news of death and despair, good news arrived when a 21-year-old woman gave birth to a baby boy on board the Sangaldan–Baramulla train on Wednesday, with help from railway staff and railway police. Both mother and child are safe and under medical care at Sub-District Hospital (SDH) Banihal.
On the other hand, the situation is turning grim in the neighbouring State of Himachal Pradesh. Rescue teams recovered four more bodies from the debris of a landslide in Mandi district, while two persons, including an NDRF jawan, were feared dead as two houses collapsed in Kullu district, officials said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, another spell of heavy rain has compounded the flood situation in Punjab, which is battling its worst deluge since 1988, as all 23 districts of the state have been hit and 30 lives lost so far. 1.48 lakh hectares of land have perished in the floods.
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is set to visit the flood-hit areas in the state on Thursday. The Minister will visit villages in the Amritsar, Gurdaspur, and Kapurthala districts, and interact with the affected farmers, sources said.
In Punjab, Army teams remain engaged in strengthening bunds at vulnerable locations, transporting food and fodder to isolated villages and clearing key water channels to prevent further flooding.
In the Jammu region, the Tawi and Chenab rivers, in particular, went on a rampage, flooding low-lying areas after a fresh spell of rain during the night.
In Jammu city, the Tawi River’s fury led to the erosion of a portion of the approach road to the fourth Tawi bridge on August 26, exacerbating connectivity issues. A multi-agency effort, involving the Indian Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and local administration, was launched to reinforce embankments near the damaged bridge to prevent further flooding in vulnerable low-lying areas.
The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH-44), a critical lifeline connecting the region to the rest of India, was blocked at multiple points due to landslides triggered by the heavy rainfall. In the Kashmir division, a flood alert was issued after the Jhelum river crossed the danger mark at Sangam in Anantnag and Pampore, following two days of incessant rainfall that left at least two people dead, dozens stranded, and major highways closed. Officials said the water level at Sangam breached the critical threshold of 25 feet, while at Pampore the river flowed above the danger mark, raising fears of flooding in several low-lying areas.
In Srinagar city, the river level at Ram Munshibagh was nearing the alert mark of 18 feet. Heavy rains have triggered flooding in the south Kashmir districts, including Pulwama, Shopian, and Kulgam. In Rajouri’s Sunderbani, a woman and her daughter were killed when their house collapsed after heavy downpour.
An official said that Sita Devi, wife of Rattan Lal, and her daughter Sonia Rattan Lal were inside the house when the wall suddenly collapsed.
In a daring operation, the Border Security Force (BSF) pressed its helicopter to evacuate 45 civilians, including women and children who were trapped in their flooded village in the Akhnoor sector.
The rescue mission by the BSF was launched after police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams failed to shift the marooned population of Fathu Kotli village in Garkhal area owing to the continuous rise in the Chenab river, which is presently flowing several feet above its evacuation level of 42 feet, the officials said. In another incident, an old house in Kali Jhani Mohalla of Pacca Danga area collapse, with three persons trapped inside the house being evacuated
The pilgrimage remained suspended for the ninth day on Wednesday, leaving the Katra base camp deserted in the absence of devotees.
A fresh incident of a landslide was also reported en route to the 12 km-long Mata Vaishno Devi trek.
Following the incident, the accommodation of officials was also vacated as a precautionary measure in the wake of heavy rainfall and the threat of landslides.