Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 8: At least 150 sheep and goats of a nomad were killed in heavy rain, land-slide and hail-storm which rocked parts of Rajouri and Poonch today while with the rain in many parts of Jammu region a sharp fall in temperature has been witnessed.
Official sources said that due to landslides near Rajdhani in Thannamandi area and snowfall at Pir Panchal, the Rajouri-Thannamandi-Bafliaz-Mughal Road has been closed while it was continuously raining in the higher reaches of district Rajouri and Poonch besides parts of Reasi, Udhampur and entire Chenab region. Due to heavy hail-storm, the fruit crop (apple-pears etc) in Poonch, Rajouri, Doda-Kishtwar, Dudu-Basantgarh in Udhampur has been badly damaged. Reports of fresh snowfall at Seoj Dhar in Bhaderwah and Dudu-Basantgarh region have also received.
Sources further disclosed that nomad, Mohd Farooq, son of Abdullah, was moving along with his nearly 250 cattle, mostly sheep-goats and family towards to Pir Panchal from Nowshera area via Thannamandi. On reaching Dera Gali- Bafliaz Road, strong rain and hail storm started this evening. The family stopped on the road side. After some time land/ mud slides occurred at the same place. His at least 150 goats and sheep perished. The weight of snow balls was even about 50 to 100 gms, the locals said.
Later, locals of the area and Thannamandi police led by SDPO Iftikhar Choudhary reached the spot. On the directions of DC Rajouri, Dr Shahid Iqbal, SDM Thannamandi and District Sheep Husbandry Officer from Rajouri with team, also rushed there on the spot. Then by using JCB the rescue operation was launched. Till the last reports reached, more than 120 dead bodies of the sheep/ goats had been unearthed and the road clearance work on still on. A large number of vehicles also remained stranded for more than five hours on the road. Some immediate help was provided by the District Administration to the victim family.
A senior Police officer from Poonch said that as it was raining and weather was bad, the traffic on Mughal Road was stopped at around 4 pm. He said reports of fresh snowfall in Pir ki Gali area were received late in the evening. It has been reported that the road has been blocked at some points. He said the traffic will be allowed tomorrow only after clearance of snow and land slides in Pir Panchal Pass area.
Reports from Chenab belt, parts of Lati-Dudu- Basantgarh, Mahore-Gool and Machedi-Bani have said that rain was continued today. However, no reports of road blockade have been received from there. On higher reaches, fresh snowfall has been reported and with this sharp fall in the temperature has been observed in Jammu and its adjoining areas. The fruit crop has also witnessed massive damage due to hail storm and road condition has also deteriorated in many hilly areas.
The chopper service to Mata Vaishno Devi from Katra base camp also remained suspended for almost for the entire day today due to bad weather. However, yatra continued smoothly despite rain in the evening and during early morning hours today, the reports said.
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