Six dead, thousands stranded in J&K floods, schools closed

Updated at 6.28pm

SRINAGAR: Schools and colleges were on Sunday ordered closed for two days in Jammu and Kashmir where the flood situation worsened with six persons dead and thousands marooned after incessant downpours inundated low-lying areas and water levels of major rivers rose sharply.

The army and air force were put on standby for flood relief and closure of schools and colleges ordered by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who convened a special Cabinet meeting to review the grim flood situation.

Incessant rains have spawned floods and cut off Kashmir Valley from the rest of the country for the third consecutive day as traffic on Srinagar-Jammu and Srinagar-Leh National Highways remained suspended due to landslides.

Over 2,000 passengers were stranded at various places on the arterial roads while 1,500 were marooned at Chatel village in Kulgam district after flood waters entered their locality.

Six members of a family, including two women and two children, were killed when their house collapsed due to rains in Kathua district. One was rescued from the debris.

Another 200 people including 100 patients were evacuated after flood waters entered Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar and shifted to Soura Medical Institute.

The river Jhelum was flowing 9 feet above the danger mark at Sangam in Anantnag, submerging parts of Awantipora and Charsoo, and had crossed the red mark at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar by 4 ft, inundating Kursoo Rajbagh, Padshahibagh, Soiteng and Lasjan, officials said.

The water level of the Dal Lake was also rising, posing a threat to Nishat, Shalimar, Brain and adjoining areas.

Troops of 3 Rashtriya Rifles evacuated people from Khiram village in Anantnag while CRPF personnel were involved in rescue and relief operations in the worst-hit Pulwama and Anantnag districts besides Srinagar.

Residents in Anantnag and Pulwama districts and Lasjan, Natipora and Mehjoor Nagar in Srinagar had been asked to remain alert in view of the threat to low-lying areas there.

The Chief Minister had asked the air force and army to be kept in readiness and called in, when required, to help the civil administration in dealing with the flood situation, an official spokesman said.

The Cabinet had also directed a fleet of trucks to be ready to rush boats to areas where required and decided that school and college buildings should be used for accommodating people displaced by floods.

The administration had been directed to take measures on priority basis to save human lives, shift people from vulnerable areas and provide on-the-spot assistance to the affected.

Round-the-clock flood control rooms would be set up in affected districts, sub-divisional and development blocks and Cabinet ministers stationed in various districts to personally monitor rescue and relief work.

Director General of Police Gopal Sharma and Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Basharat Ahmad Dhar also reviewed the situation at a meeting of engineers and officers.