Woman dies, 4 injured in house collapse
*NH, Poonch road blocked
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Mar 27: While higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir received fresh snowfall, entire Kashmir and Jammu region has been experiencing heavy rain since last night whereas, Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was blocked at several places in Ramban sector due to landslides.
A woman was killed while four children seriously injured, when a Kucha house collapsed at a village in RS Pura area of Jammu district late this evening.
Official sources said that due to another landslide in Kalidhar area, the Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch highway was also blocked this evening whereas, link to Bhaderwah town in Doda was snapped after landslides in Drudu area.
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SSP Traffic, National Highway J S Johar said that due to heavy rain in Ramban sector since early hours today, the Jammu-Srinagar Highway has been blocked due to landslides at Mompassi, Panthyal, Digdol, Marog, Monkey Morh, Hingni, Cafeteria Morh and Seri area.
He said earlier many load carriers and oil/LPG tankers, with essential commodities were cleared for Kashmir. If weather improved, the highway will be cleared tomorrow but it may take at least six hours to clear the blockages at different places by the National Highway authorities, he added.
SSP, Traffic Jammu Rural, M L Kaith said that Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch highway was closed due to damage caused to the road near Kappa Galla (Kali Mata Mandir area) of Kalidhar Ranges this evening. He said the link to a local road to Dareli has also been snapped with it. He, however, said that road is likely to be restored on war footing by tomorrow morning.
Reports from Doda said that Bhderwah road was also blocked due to landslides near Drudu this afternoon. It was partially restored but again blocked due to continuous heavy rain. The power supply to entire Bhaderwah Sub Division has been snapped due to damage caused to the poles and power infrastructure, reports added.
Basohli-Bani, Bani–Taggar, Latti- Dudu- Basantgarh-Ramnagar, Reasi- Mahore roads have also been closed due to land slides, whereas, scores of other link roads in the region were blocked. While some higher reaches in Poonch, Doda and Kishtwar experienced light snowfall, the power supply to many remote and hilly areas has been snapped.
Jammu city witnessed heavy rainfall through out the day and water logging was created at many low lying areas in the winter capital city. Continuous rain also resulted into fall in temperature.
A MeT official said that Jammu recorded 17.0 degrees Celsius, Katra town 14.2, Batote 7.7, Banihal 7.5 and Bhaderwah 6.9 degrees as the minimum temperatures today.
Meanwhile, SHO, R S Pura, Jai Pal Sharma said that muddy house of one Darshan Lal at village Jinder Melu, collapsed due to heavy rain late this evening. He said Darshan’s wife- Toshi Devi was buried alive under the debris while four children were injured in the mishap. The villagers and police party rescued the trapped children and rushed them to RS Pura hospital. The body of Toshi Devi was also later removed. Darshan and his son were out when the mishap occurred.
Meanwhile, Kashmir valley was lashed by heavy rains while ski resort of Gulmarg and other upper reaches received fresh snowfall leading to chilly weather conditions across the region.
People in the city woke up to a chilly and rainy Friday morning. Incessant rain continued throughout the day in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir, where streets and markets remained deserted due to a complete lock down to curtail spread of Coronavirus.
The rain and snowfall led to chilly weather conditions across Kashmir. However, the night temperature improved and settled above normal at most places in the valley, where there is weather warning issued for the next 48 days.
A MeT department spokesperson said here that isolated heavy rain or snow and lightning with gusty winds at 30-40 km per hour speed would occur during the next 48 hours under the influence of a Western Disturbance (WD), which is active in the region. “During this time light to moderate rain and snow would also occur at most places in the Valley,” he added.
Gulmarg received fresh snow since early this morning, resulting in further dip in the day temperature. Kongdori and Apharwat, the highest point of the cable car project in Gulmarg, also received light snowfall.
The upper reaches of Kashmir including Peer Ki Gali, Sadna Pass, Razdan Pass, Z-Gali and Zojila received fresh snowfall.
The Met spokesperson said that there would be light to moderate rain during the next 24 hours in Srinagar, where maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 12 degree and 6 degree, respectively.
Srinagar, the summer capital of the state had a low of 6.8 degrees while the mercury in Qazigund in south Kashmir settled at a low of 7.2 degrees Celsius. The ski resort Gulmarg recorded minus 2.0 and tourist destination Pahalgam at 5.0, the spokesman added.
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