Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, June 22: Five houses and a portion of Govt Middle school were damaged, three cattle died and three persons injured due to thunder storm and lightning in Dudu area of district Udhampur, a middle aged man was washed away in flooded Ujh river in Kathua while landslides during heavy rain blocked Jammu-Srinagar National Highway at Samroli near Udhampur this morning.
Official sources said that during heavy rain and thunderstorm in Latti and Dudu- Basantgarh area of Udhampur district today, a strong beam of light from the sky hit some houses and a school building. While the children at Govt Middle school Panchount had miraculous escape, five houses were damaged and three women got injured. Two cows and a sheep tied with the tether in a cattle shed were also killed on the spot. The window panes of several houses were also damaged.
The incident took place at around 10.50 am today. It was thunderstorm all over the area and heavy downpour when a strong beam of light from the sky struck several houses and a cattle shed besides a portion of Govt school at Panchount near Dudu. Three women were injured while three other persons including a child turned unconscious.
Those injured were identified as Kamlo Devi (27), wife of Sudesh Kumar; Reva Devi (42), wife of Girdhari Lal of Panchount No. 2 and Neelam Devi, wife of Som Raj from the same village. The injured were rushed to the Primary Health Centre, Duru.
The houses of Ashok Kumar, son of Mulakh Raj; Abdul Rashid, son of Nizam Din; Nissar Hussain, son of Abdul Rashid and Subash Chander, son of Mulkah Raj of Panchount village were extensively damaged. House of Saleem Mohd and a room of Govt Middle School Roun Falagu were also partially damaged. Two cows of Saleem Mohd and a sheep were also killed on the spot.
Meanwhile, police party from Dudu and SDM besides Naib Tehsildar visited the affected area and they also provided immediate relief including tents to the affected people. Two families were accommodated at local old Government building. They were also provided relief material.
Reports from Latti said that due to thunder storm and lightening some infrastructure of local Telephone Exchange including cables got damaged. A transformer and four poles and cables were also damaged at Dudu (Panchount) during lightening and the power supply to this whole area has been snapped since morning. Sarpanch Girdhari Lal has urged upon the District Administration to provide ex-gratia / relief to the affected poor families. He also demanded immediate restoration of power supply to the area.
Meanwhile, vehicular traffic on busy Jammu-Srinagar National Highway came to halt as the land slides during heavy rains blocked highway near Samroli between Udhampur and Chenani this morning. The boulders and mud slides created major blockade and it took about two hours to the National Highway authorities to clear the road. The traffic was restored on this highway after two hours. A senior Traffic Police official said that National Highway was clear till late this evening and the vehicles were plying smoothly.
Another report from Kathua said that heavy rain in the morning caused extensive damage to the roads and lanes in Kathua town and flooded nallahs disrupted movement of vehicles for some time.
The dead body of a middle aged villager was recovered from the bank of river Ujh near Ghati village. He had been washed away in flood. Some people noticed the body near Ghati and shifted it to the mortuary of Kathua hospital with the help of police. His identity could not be ascertained. A message has been flashed to all the Police Stations in Kathua and Billawar areas.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
