Bodies of 16 people, including women and infants, buried under debris of a collapsed house in central Kashmir’s Budgam district were retrieved on Tuesday afternoon even as the residents of the Valley remained in the grip of flood fear as Met department has predicted more rain and snow between April 1 and April 3. The receding Jhelum provided only a temporary reprieve on Tuesday, offering room for preparations to tackle the looming flood threat. “We have concluded the (rescue) operation at laden village in Budgam. Today 10 more bodies were recovered from the debris,” Deputy Inspector General of Police Ghulam Hassan Bhat told The Pioneer.
Bhat, who supervised the operation, said that three houses on the slope had collapsed due to mudslides triggered by heavy rain. “The debris was scattered in the radius of 200 metres and it was difficult to meander through the slush to retrieve bodies. Though locals helped the police and the Army in the operation, hundreds of bystanders created hurdles,” Bhat said. The 16 members of two families had gathered in a relatively stronger mud-and-brick house during Sunday night but it caved in and mudslides buried it completely. The dead included nine women and a 22-day old baby. The State Government has announced ex-gratia relief for the tragedy-struck villagers belonging to an impoverished barber clan.
Meanwhile, the water level in the Jhelum continued to recede with no rainfall for over 20 hours till Tuesday night. At 7 pm on Tuesday, the water level at Sangam in south Kashmir was 14.15 feet lower than the danger level of 23 feet. At Ram Munshibagh in Srinagar where flood-risk is marked at 19 feet, the water was flowing at 17.05 feet. The Asham gauge in north Kashmir was at 12.41 feet, around 3 feet below the danger level.
Director of Meteorological Center Sonam lotus allayed fears of heavy rainfall on Wednesday. “We are experiencing moderate rainfall in Kashmir Valley between April 1 and April 3. There is no fear of heavy rainfall till Wednesday afternoon,” lotus said. Authorities have dispatched men and machines to flood-prone areas to tackle the situation when a fresh spell of rain breaks out. The two NDRF teams have been kept in standby mode.
Officials said that boats and rescuers, including NDRF personnel, have been positioned at high-risk areas. Trucks carrying boats and machinery were seen going in different directions in Srinagar, where normal life remained crippled due to flood threat. The Home Department has dispatched 8 NDRF teams to J&K to tackle the flood situation even as the Army and the IAF are on standby mode to plunge into rescue operations, should the local administration require their assistance. Authorities have set-up a control room each in Srinagar, Anantnag and Baramulla. “The Special Control Room which was established in Police Control Room Srinagar to help people in situations arising due to bad weather has received around 30,000 calls and WhatsApp messages,” a police spokesman said.
“Three composite rescue groups constituting of Infantry, Engineers, and Army Medical Corps are located at Badamibagh cantonment, Old Airfield and Zainakot. Boats and pumps have been grouped with them”, a defence spokesman said. Authorities announced to delay re-opening of schools by another day even as board examinations were postponed till April 5. “The schools up to Class XII shall remain closed on Wednesday, April 1,” Director School Education Shokat Beigh said.
The vital Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained closed for the fifth consecutive day. Though the traffic managers allowed passage of some stranded vehicles, their journey could not continue due to bad condition of highway in some treacherous stretches between Banihal and Ramban. The closure of highway has caused shortage of essential commodities in Valley. Many fuel pumps have been closed after their stocks exhausted and tanks were not refilled. The highway caved in at Pampore in the outskirts of Srinagar city hampering traffic movement towards the capital city from south Kashmir. The city bound traffic was diverted through Pulwama.