Rain havoc in J&K; 5 dead, Vaishno Devi yatra halted

SRINAGAR: At least, five people were killed and three more went missing in flash floods, mudslides and house collapses triggered by heavy downpours across Jammu and Kashmir during the past 24 hours, officials in twin capitals Srinagar and Jammu said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the pilgrimages to revered Amarnath and Vaishno Devi cave-shrines tucked away in J&K’s Pahalgam and Trikuta hills, respectively, have been disrupted due to the inclement weather. A report said that the authorities stopped pilgrims from proceeding ahead through accident-prone areas of the tracks to Amarnath “as a precautionary measure taken to ensure no harm comes to any devotee”.

Also, schools were shut in Kathua, Rajouri, Kishtwar and Doda districts which received highest precipitation during the last 24 hours, inundating many localities, the officials said.

They added that five deaths took place in separate landslides, mudslides and house collapse incidents in Kathua district alone. “Five persons are feared dead after two residential houses belonging to Mushtaq Ahmed and Abdul Qayum collapsed in Surjan Morha Aruad block in the Bani area of Kathua in the impact of heavy rainfall”, said SSP Kathua Shivdeep Singh Jamwal.

He added that five members of the two families got buried under the debris of these houses and two of them have been identified as Tabseem Bano and Muhammad Arif as their bodies were recovered later. The rescue operation was under way to retrieve the other three identified as Zareen Begum, Shahbaz and Arbaz.

Another woman, Naseema Begum, a resident of Mandhota village of Tehsil Bani, died after coming under a landslide in the same area, the police sources said. In similar incidents reported from neighbouring Sitti area, a Class VII student identified as Ajay Singh and another person namely Sham Lal were also reportedly killed.

Earlier DC Kathua had in a tweet said, “In view of inclement weather forecast, public at large is advised not to venture out and stay indoors. Avoid rivers/nallahs.”

The officials said that following heavy downpours the new track to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine has been closed while helicopter services to the place of worship from the basecamp Katra too have been suspended. “The new track to the shrine was closed for pilgrims in view of landslide threat as Katra town which with the rest of the Reasi district received the heaviest rainfall in the past 43 years,” an official said. However, the pilgrims can relocate to the shrine using the old track, he said. Confirming it, a spokesman of Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) said, “The yatra is going on through the old track.”

Even as a fresh batch of 4,900 pilgrims had left Jammu for the Valley in the morning, the yatra from Jammu has been “halted” in view of the shooting stones and landslides occurring at a few places along the Jammu-Srinagar highway between Raman and Banihal, the official sources said. “Those who had left Jammu for the basecamps of Pahalgam and Baltal in the morning have been stopped for the night stay at a Yatri Niwas in the Chanderkote area of the Ramban district,” said an official.

Beyond Jammu, the highway connecting J&K’s winter capital with Pathankot in Punjab too was earlier during the day closed for vehicular traffic in view of the flood-like situation in Tarnah Nullah. A bridge spanning the nullah suffered damage due to heavy rains, following which the traffic was diverted on to a border road, a report said.

Meanwhile, the Mughal Road, connecting Kashmir Valley’s Shopian district with the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, too has been closed due to a landslide. “The road has been blocked near Ratta Chamb due to landslides amid rains”, an official Hamid Ali Bandey said, adding that men and machinery were pressed into service to clear the road for vehicular traffic.

Officials further said that rivers and rivulets at many places, particularly in Kathua and neighbouring Samba district, have reached close to or crossed the flood alert level. Meanwhile, the weather office has predicted more rains in J&K over the next seven days.