Jammu, Jul 19: At least 12 people were killed and several others missing as torrential rains unleashed landslides and flash floods across the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, causing widespread damage to public and private infrastructure including roads and houses, officials said.
The devastation prompted Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to skip National Conference’s proposed statehood protest in Delhi on Monday and rush to Jammu to take stock of the emerging situation and oversee relief efforts. Abdullah reached the Civil Secretariat here at 6 pm and chaired a high-level meeting.
The worst devastation was reported from Surankote tehsil in Poonch district, where most of the fatalities occurred, while rescue teams raced against time to trace the missing persons, the officials said.
Deputy Commissioner Poonch Ashok Kumar Sharma said at least 16 persons are feared dead in the district with bodies of nine recovered so far.
“The rescue efforts are ongoing while all measures are being taken to provide immediate relief to the affected population,” Sharma, who visited various flood-hit areas during the day, told PTI on phone.
However, a police official said one more body was recovered in Surankote area of Poonch in the evening taking the death toll to 10, while two persons including a woman lost their lives in flash floods in Rajouri district.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Abdullah expressed their grief over the loss of lives in the natural fury and assured rehabilitation of the affected population. Former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami also extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and expressed solidarity with all those affected by the calamity.
In the most heart-wrenching incident, eight members of a family were buried when their house on the banks of a stream came under a landslide following a cloudburst in lower Murrah village of Surankote early Sunday, the officials said.
While bodies of three persons, including a two-year-old boy, Sofian Yasar, were retrieved from the debris, a search operation was continuing to trace the remaining missing persons, they said.
Four members of another family were reported missing after their house was washed away by flash floods at Sangla village, the officials said, adding the missing persons include Abdul Hameed, his wife Sharifa Begum, daughter Areeba and sister Manira Begum. Bodies of two of the missing persons were retrieved, the officials said.
A 28-year-old woman, Nazia Kousar, was killed when her house collapsed in Noonabandi village. Her Husband, Mohd Hafiz, and three children, aged between two and six years, were rescued with injuries and shifted to a hospital, officials said.
Shahzaib Ahmad (22) lost his life when his house collapsed at Sanglani-Surankote, while a minor girl identified as Iram drowned in a stream at Marhote. An unidentified body of a woman was also fished out from a stream near Dhundak Lathoong bridge, the officials said.
One person was killed and another critically injured following collapse of nearly half-a-dozen houses in Haveli tehsil of Poonch district, they said.
The officials said the body of a woman identified as Pinky was also taken out from a river in Rajouri town which was hit by flash floods following incessant overnight rainfall, forcing hundreds of residents to move to safer locations as floodwaters inundated low-lying areas. Another body was found in a river in Nowshera area of the district.
Dozens of vehicles were swept away or submerged after overflowing rivers breached their banks, causing widespread disruption, the officials said.
They said rescue and relief teams, assisted by the local administration, were engaged in evacuating affected families and assessing the damage. Local Congress MLA Iftkhar Ahmad said there was heavy damage to public and private properties in the flash floods.
As a weather advisory warned of moderate to heavy rainfall across Jammu and Kashmir till July 23, the border district of Rajouri and Poonch experienced relentless rain since Saturday evening, leading to overflowing rivers and streams after a night of heavy downpour.
Rajouri MLA Ahmed, who was scheduled to participate in his party’s protest in support of the restoration of statehood outside Lok Bhavan in Jammu on Sunday, returned to his hometown to assess the flood situation.
“I have abandoned my party programme to stand with my people, as the flash floods have caused extensive damage to public and private property,” Ahmad said.
Chief Minister Abdullah, who was in Delhi for the proposed statehood protest on Monday, decided to cut short his stay in the national capital and returned to Jammu in the afternoon in view of the worsening situation across parts of the division following heavy rains.
In a post on X, the chief minister earlier said he is returning from Delhi and would personally monitor the situation on the ground.
“In light of the weather warning put out by the meteorological department and the seriousness of the situation unfolding across parts of Jammu division, I will leave Delhi to fly to Jammu this afternoon to personally monitor the situation on the ground,” he said.
“Since first light this morning I’ve been closely monitoring the situation arising from the extremely heavy rain in parts of Jammu, especially Rajouri town & surrounding areas. I’ve been in touch with the local MLAs of the region. While the situation continues to unfold the first priority of the administration is to safeguard precious lives. The government will do everything possible to aid & assist affected people who have suffered property loss/damage due to the rains & flash floods,” he said.
Abdullah also stated that the National Conference’s planned statehood protest in Delhi on July 20 will continue as scheduled under the leadership of party president Farooq Abdullah.
