Jammu and Kashmir: Fear of floods loom after heavy rains resume in Srinagar

Srinagar: Fear of floods resurfaced after fresh rainfall on Wednesday in the Kashmir Valley. Although, officials said there was nothing alarming about the water levels of Jhelum which had receded. Rainfall which began on Tuesday night and is expected to continue for next two days, can again cause surge in the water of level of River Jhelum and its tributaries, officials said. [caption id=“attachment_2182257” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Vehicles along a flooded road in Srinagar after heavy rainfall on Wednesday. AFP[/caption] The flood situation had started showing improvement on Tuesday afternoon after 17 people died in Srinagar. Jhelum was flowing at 11.70 feet at Sangam in south Kashmir, way below the flood level of 21 feet while the level at Ram Munshi Bagh was 15.35 feet against the flood level of 19 feet, officials added. “The water level has decreased considerably since Tuesday morning. All the contingency plans are in place… temporary shelters have been set up for people evacuated from flood prone areas,” an official said. The official also added that the NDRF and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been put on a standby to meet any eventuality. Army has also taken steps to help the people in affected areas of the Valley in dealing with the situation. “We have earmarked one column (75 to 100 troops) in each Company Operating Base (COB) ready to respond to any eventuality,” an army official said. He said three composite rescue groups constituting of Infantry, Engineers, EME and Army Medical Corps have been set up at Badamibagh Cantonment, Old Airfield and Zainakot. “All dewatering pumps held with Army are deployed in the low lying areas,” he added. Heavy rainfall since Saturday has resulted in death of 15 people so far in Chadoora area of Budgam district.One person trapped in the landslide was also feared dead but there was no confirmation. One person had died in flash floods in Udhampur area of Jammu region. The deaths took place when a house at village Laden collapsed due to caving in of earth caused by heavy rains. PTI