*Batote-Kishtwar road blocked, restored
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR/ JAMMU, July 25: A few hours of downpour unleashed chaos in Srinagar as the rains caused massive water logging on the roads and caught authorities on a wrong foot while heavy rain in Jammu and other parts of the region led to flash flood in several rivers and streams.
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Batote- Kishtwar highway remained blocked at two placed between Prem Nagar and Kishtwar due to land slides during early morning but the road restored in the afternoon. River Tawi, Ujh and Chenab besides several streams and nallahs witnessed flash flood during morning hours but the flood level remained below alert mark. Many Jammu city roads witnessed water logging due to heavy rain today.
All the major roads of Srinagar were submerged in the water making it difficult for the people to commute. The office goers and students faced difficulty to reach their destinations. People were also seen wading through the waterlogged roads
The rain water led to water logging in many areas of the city, including the commercial hub of Lal Chowk. The water logging crippled the movement of residents at Posh Rajbagh and Jawahar Nagar areas of the city as well as low-lying areas like Bemina and Mehjoor Nagar.
The rainwater inundated almost all the city roads including Residency road, Maulana Azad road and the interior roads of the city.
Teachers of Primary School Lethpora and Samboora in South Kashmir Pampore area were forced to suspend the class work today as rain water has submerged the school compound.
The students returned to school after a ten-day summer break but found the school compound inundated. “We were happy to go school after a break, but we’re disheartened to witness water all around it, ” a student said.
A school teacher said that they were unable to enter the premises.” We took shelter on the verandah of an old building in the neighborhood, ” a teacher said.
A female teacher told Excelsior that they were unable to access arrival for marking their attendance. “We somehow managed to get the arrival out of the school building and marked their attendance,” she said, adding that all the students were sent back to their homes.
Following the water logging, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Shahid Iqbal Choudhary visited various areas to assess the water-logging situation and inspect dewatering efforts. He said in addition to 80 dewatering stations and 115 mobile pumping stations of the SMC over a dozen fire tenders and pumps of the Fire and Emergency Services were pressed into service for dewatering efforts across the city.
Shahid said water-logging as a result of rains throws a major challenge because of deficient drainage in the district adding that the district administration is fast-tracking efforts to set up a comprehensive drainage project that will address this deficit.
Reports from Doda said that the heavy downpour created panic among the residents about the possibility of fresh floods as MET has predicted heavy rains for the next three days till July 28.
Torrential rains since early morning has created havoc in the whole Chenab belt while National Highway (NH1B) got closed due to landslides at 2-3 places near Prem Nagar and Thathri.
Like other parts of the state, Chenab region is also experiencing heavy rainfall which has triggered landslides at several places, due to which the vehicular movement on Batote-Doda-Kishtwar National Highway (NH1B) was disrupted for over eight hours.
The 110 Km- long Batote-Kishtwar National Highway got closed at Kandni near Thathri and Premnagar due to massive landslides/mudslides after heavy rainfall. The authorities started restoration work after receiving information about landslide but continue showers of rain and shooting stones disrupted work.
“Passengers and vehicles got stuck at several places as traffic was suspended after the highway got blocked by landslides triggered due to heavy rains, “ said DySP Traffic NH1B Zohaib Hassan.
“We are trying to restore the road for traffic as soon as possible but continuous rain is hampering the restoration work,” DySP Traffic added.
However, the traffic was restored on the highway in the afternoon after the disruption of over eight hours. Over 300 vehicles remained stranded on the either side of the road.
Due to rain and land slides Reasi-Mahore and Mahore -Gool road also remained blocked during the day. While Mahore section was restored Gool road was still closed. Traffic on Basohli-Bani road also remained disrupted for over six hours due to land slides. The power supply to many areas of Jammu region remained snapped for hours together due to rain. Even some Jammu city localities witnessed power suspension for over 3 to 5 hours today.
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