Floods, Landslides Force Shutdown of Jammu-Srinagar Highway

Jammu, Aug 26: Moderate to heavy rains lashed Jammu division for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, leading to suspension of traffic along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, officials said.
Almost all the rivers and streams are flowing above or close to the danger mark, submerging a number of low-lying areas and roads in the city and elsewhere, they said.
The officials said the traffic on the 250-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway was suspended as a precautionary measure this morning following shooting of stones from the hillocks at Chanderkote, Kela Morh and Battery Cheshma in Ramban district.
The vehicular movement on the highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, was suspended at Udhampur in Jammu and Qazigund in Kashmir, they said, adding it was raining heavily all along the highway when last reports were received.
The officials said a portion of the Padder road near Traith Nallah was washed away in Kishtwar district, while Ramnagar-Udhampur road in Udhampur and Jangalwar-Thathri road in Doda were closed following landslides at Konga and Thathri, respectively.
Reports of damage to nearly a dozen houses and cowshed were also received from higher reaches of Kishtwar, Doda and Rajouri districts.
The officials said the overflowing Modhopur barrage has crossed one lakh cusec mark and is continuously rising, triggering heavy flooding in several low-lying areas along the Ravi river in Kathua district.
The officials said water levels in the Taranah River, Ujh River, Maggar Khad, Sahar Khad, Ravi River, and their tributaries in Kathua are simultaneously rising and nearing the danger mark The Tawi river has crossed the 20 feet danger mark in Udhampur district, while downstream in Jammu it is flowing currently below the alert level, the officials said, Chenab is also flowing close to the warning level in Jammu.
Basanter River in Samba also crossed the danger mark of 4.5 feet this morning, they said.
According to meteorological department, Kathua district recorded the highest 155.6 mm of rainfall during the last 24 hours ending 8.30 am followed by Bhaderwah in Doda at 99.8 mm, Jammu (81.5 mm) and Katra (68.8mm).
Authorities have already issued advisories, asking people to stay away from water bodies and landslide-prone areas amid the weather forecast predicting moderate to heavy rainfall at many places in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi, Udhampur, Rajouri, Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar districts with possibility of cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides in high altitude areas till August 27.