One dies in snow avalanche in Kashmir
Gopal Sharma
SRINAGAR/ JAMMU, Mar 6: The dead body of the driver of Tavera vehicle, which fell into river Chenab near Ramban on Thursday evening, was recovered this morning along with the vehicle whereas, a labourer was killed and another injured as snow avalanche hit Gund area of Ganderbal in Kashmir.
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While the traffic on Jammu -Srinagar National Highway was restored during the day today after the landslides were cleared at three places in Ramban and Ramsu areas, the rain continued to lash J&K even today bringing down the temperature. The power supply to many areas has been disrupted with the continuous rain.
Official sources said that Tavera vehicle which rolled down in river Chenab near Cafeteria Morh in Ramban last evening after being hit by a boulder, was pulled out of the river with the help of cranes by the rescue teams during the day today and the dead body of the vehicle driver was also recovered from the boulders at the bank of the river.
The deceased was identified as Mushtaq Ahmed , son of Manzoor Ahmed, resident of K P Road, Anantnag. He was driving Tavera vehicle No. JK03C/9311.
Sources further said that an Aadhar card of one Suresh Kumar hailing from district Gurdaspur has also been recovered from the site near the river bank. One of the passengers travelling in the same vehicle was said to be one Irshad Ahmed (35), son of Abdul Khaliq from Baderpora in Bijbehara. It could not be ascertained properly as to how many more passengers were travelling in the vehicle. However, police claimed that apparently there were two or three passengers in the vehicle at the time of mishap. The police was also trying to find out the whereabouts of the man whose Aadhar Card was recovered near the river site.
Meanwhile, a labourer was killed and another injured in a snow avalanche in Gund area of Ganderbal district in Kashmir.
Official sources said that two labourers were buried under snow avalanche in Rayil Gund area of Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district last evening after fresh snowfall and rain in the area. The labourers were working near the gate of mini power project and a snow avalanche buried them.
The local residents and police jointly launched the rescue operation to trace the persons who were buried under the snow. Both of them were rescued and taken to Primary Health Centre Gund where doctors declared one of them as brought dead.
The deceased has been identified as Swarn Singh, 48, son of Kartar Singh while as the injured person was identified as Boby Singh, son of Angrez Singh, residents of Punjab.
The body of Swarn Singh has been sent for postmortem while as the injured person is undergoing treatment in local hospital. Police has registered a case.
A Meteorological department official today said that there would be improvement in weather from this evening and it would remain dry for the next few days.
The official said that there would be significant improvement in weather from Saturday afternoon. However, there was no rain in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir throughout the day but in the evening the Valley was lashed by rains leading to drop in the temperature.
The official said that plains in Kashmir received moderate rainfall while upper reaches received light snowfall till late Friday evening. “We expect significant improvement in weather from Saturday onward and thereafter, there is no forecast of any rainfall or snowfall in Kashmir or Jammu region till March 10,” he said.
A Traffic police official said that the traffic on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was restored at around 12 noon today after the landslides were cleared from three different points in Ramban sector. Mehar, Panthyal and Cafeteria Morh were the three main bottle-necks cleared by the National highway authorities. Light snowfall also occurred at Jawahar Tunnel area this morning but it did not effect the movement of vehicles.
He said all the stranded vehicles were cleared for Jammu and thereafter, the traffic for Kashmir was also allowed. The highway was clear when the last reports came in late this evening.
”The movement of traffic was suspended on the highway in view of the landslides and the shooting stones last evening at Mehar, Cafeteria Morh besides Panthyal and Battery Chashma,” he said adding that if weather is clear, one-way traffic would be allowed from Jammu to Srinagar tomorrow.
Meanwhile, due to rain, Mahore-Gool, Mahore-Budhal and Gulabgarh roads were still blocked. Several link roads in Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Udhampur , Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua were also blocked. The power supply in many areas has been affected. The chopper service at Mata Vaishnodevi from base camp Katra and operation of cable car at Bhawan also remained suspended today due to bad weather.
The temperature in Jammu and other major towns in the region showed sharp decline today. The attendance in Government offices, schools- colleges also remained thin due to rain during the entire day. The MeT has predicted improvement in weather from Saturday evening.
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