Srinagar, July 24: The intermittent rains lashed many parts of Kashmir for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, keeping water levels in most rivers and streams high and triggering a flood scare.
The water level of the Jhelum river, which had crossed the flood declaration mark in Anantnag and Srinagar on Thursday night, has however begun to recede.
Intermittent rainfall continued across several parts of the valley, particularly in south Kashmir, causing many water bodies to swell.
Officials said the Jhelum river, which had risen above the flood declaration mark on Thursday, remained above the danger level at some locations on Friday, although its water level had been falling since morning.
At around noon, the water level of Jhelum at Sangam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district stood at 18.90 feet, just slightly below the flood declaration mark of 21 feet.
It touched 19.71 ft at 9 pm.
At Pampore on the outskirts of Srinagar, Jhelum’s water level at 9 pm was recorded at 5.09 metres against the flood declaration mark of 4.5 metres while at Munshi Bagh in Srinagar it stood at 18.86 ft, above the flood declaration mark of 18 feet, officials said.
The Irrigation and Flood Control Department has been closely monitoring the situation and advised people to exercise utmost caution and avoid venturing near rivers, streams and other water bodies.
The Meteorological Department said south Kashmir received significant rainfall over the past 24 hours. Qazigund recorded 40.2 mm of rainfall till 8.30 am, followed by Kokernag with 39.2 mm and Pahalgam with 25.4 mm.
Relentless rain, cloudbursts and flash floods over the past six days have claimed 29 lives in Jammu and Kashmir while six persons are still missing.
Rescue teams have intensified searches for the missing in the worst-hit border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, deploying additional personnel to scan flood channels and vulnerable areas.
Meanwhile, Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained closed for the third consecutive day on today following multiple landslides, shooting stones and road erosion triggered by incessant rain.
“The 250-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, remained blocked at Deohal bridge, Samroli and Jakhani in Udhampur district and Banihal in Ramban district,” officials said.
They said restoration work was underway but continuous rainfall was hampering debris clearance and repair operations.
More than 1,000 vehicles remained stranded at Ramban, Nagrota, Jammu, Udhampur, Lakhanpur and Samba due to the highway closure. Commuters have been advised to avoid travel until the road is declared safe.
Besides the national highway, over a dozen inter-district roads, including the Doda-Kishtwar road, remained closed due to landslides, mudslides and road erosion.
However, the Mughal Road and the Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri (SSG) road remained open despite heavy rainfall.
To facilitate the movement of stranded passengers, Northern Railway operated a special train from Budgam and Banihal to Katra. More than 600 stranded tourists were also shifted from Srinagar to Jammu, officials said.
Due to the bad weather and flash floods, the Amarnath, Vaishno Devi, Shiv Khori and Machail yatras remain suspended for the day.
More than 15,000 pilgrims are stranded at base camps and lodging centres in Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur, Ramban and Banihal, while security personnel have been deployed along the highway to prevent movement towards Kashmir.