Srinagar: Heavy rainfall continued to batter Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Saturday, triggering flooding in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, cloudburst-induced flash floods in Kishtwar and Minamarg, disrupting road connectivity, damaging property, and prompting authorities to launch rescue and restoration operations while shutting schools in several districts as a precaution.
In south Kashmir’s Shopian district, incessant rain led to flooding in Pahlipora village, where rainwater entered several residential houses and a school, disrupting normal life.
Officials said personnel from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the district administration rushed to the affected locality and launched rescue and relief operations. Water was being pumped out from inundated houses while vulnerable families were shifted to safer locations wherever required.
Officials said damage assessment was underway and, despite the flooding, no casualties or injuries had been reported.
Meanwhile, a cloudburst struck Chatroo market in Kishtwar district at around 2.30 am, triggering flash floods that swept through the market and adjoining areas.
The flash floods partially damaged two residential houses and two shops, while two parked vehicles were washed away after being swept into a nearby stream. Mud, slush and boulders inundated the main market, disrupting commercial activities and affecting several business establishments.
The Kishtwar–Chatroo–Sinthan stretch of National Highway-244 was temporarily closed after debris blocked the road. However, after several hours of intensive restoration work by the concerned agencies, the highway was reopened for traffic.
Kishtwar Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Sharma immediately mobilised the district administration, police, disaster response teams and other departments to undertake rescue, evacuation, restoration and damage assessment operations.
Officials said all affected families had been shifted to safer locations, while teams were assessing structural damage to houses, shops, roads and drainage infrastructure.
The Deputy Commissioner appealed to residents to follow official advisories, avoid streams, nallahs and unstable water channels, and cooperate with the administration until the weather improves.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, who reviewed the situation with the Deputy Commissioner, said compensation would be provided to affected shopkeepers and business owners in accordance with the government’s relief norms.
He said disaster preparedness in Kishtwar had been strengthened following last year’s devastating Chasoti cloudburst, which claimed 63 lives, mostly pilgrims travelling to the Machail Mata shrine, while around 30 persons remain untraced.
The Union Minister also noted that the Ministry of Earth Sciences has installed Early Warning Systems (EWS) at Kishtwar and Machail to provide advance alerts during extreme weather events.
As a precaution amid continuing rainfall, the district administrations ordered the closure of all government and private schools in Ramban, Kishtwar and Doda on Saturday.
The Chief Education Officers directed educational institutions to conduct online classes to minimise disruption to academic activities. Authorities cited heavy rainfall, slippery roads, landslide threats and the possibility of shooting stones as reasons for the precautionary closure.
According to the Meteorological Centre, Srinagar, Kathua recorded the highest rainfall during the past 24 hours with 46 mm, followed by Shalimar (42 mm), Shopian (41 mm), another observatory in Shopian (40 mm), Awantipora (31 mm), Ramban (30.5 mm) and Poonch (27.5 mm).
The weather office has forecast generally cloudy skies with intermittent light to moderate rain and thundershowers over the coming days, while warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places, particularly in the Jammu division.
It cautioned that intense spells of rain could trigger flash floods, landslides, mudslides and shooting stones at vulnerable locations over the next five days and advised people to remain vigilant.
Meanwhile, in Ladakh, a cloudburst near Mina-2 in Minamarg on Friday evening triggered flash floods and landslides, affecting four temporary shelters of Bakerwal families.
Officials said nearly 20 members of Bakerwal families, residing in temporary deras opposite Police Post Minamarg, were rescued after police personnel launched a swift evacuation operation.
The affected families were shifted to the Police Post Minamarg building and the Sheep Husbandry Department building for safety.
During the incident, a Wagon R car was washed away in the flash floods. However, all occupants escaped safely and no casualties were reported.
The cloudburst also led to the temporary suspension of traffic on the Drass-Srinagar National Highway near the affected stretch.
Police personnel from Police Post Minamarg, assisted by road clearance machinery and civil authorities, remained engaged in clearing debris and restoring road connectivity.
The District Police Drass appealed to commuters, tourists and local residents to avoid crossing overflowing streams, water channels and flood-prone areas and to exercise maximum caution while travelling until weather conditions improve.
Meanwhile, the continuing wet spell also affected transport connectivity across Jammu and Kashmir. With the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH-44) remaining closed due to restoration work following rain-related damage at Samroli in Udhampur and Gangroo in Ramban, the Northern Railway operated three special trains, transporting around 2,200 stranded passengers between Budgam, Banihal and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi (SMVD) Railway Station, Katra, providing much-needed relief to travellers.
Authorities said disaster response teams, police and civil administration remained on high alert across vulnerable districts, while restoration of damaged roads, drainage systems and public infrastructure was continuing on a war footing. They urged the public to follow official advisories and avoid unnecessary travel to landslide- and flood-prone areas until weather conditions stabilise.
