MeT predicts rain, snow on Mar 24, 25
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Mar 16: Two persons were killed and two others injured in a landslide near a hydro-power project, while over 235 people, including women and children, were evacuated from Sinthan top in Kishtwar district last night.
Reports said in view of the inclement weather, the authorities ordered the closure of all educational institutions outside the Municipal limits in Kishtwar and adjoining Doda district for Monday as a precautionary measure.
A landslide, triggered by rain, struck a hydro-power project site near Dangduru in Kishtwar district last night, trapping two workers. While one worker was later found dead, the other went missing under the debris, officials said.
Despite search operation throughout the day, the body of missing man could not be recovered. A senior official said that the missing man too has been killed in the mishap as revealed by two injured persons. The deceased were identified as Noshad Ahmed, son of Din Mohd, resident of Palmar in Kishtwar and Excavator operator-Nawaz Ahmed, son of Mohd Ashraf, resident of Marmat in Doda.
The two injured were identified as Arif Hussain from Nagseni and Ishaq Ahmed from Paddar in district Kishtwar. They were provided treatment at Kishtwar hospital.
In yet another incident, a joint rescue operation by the J&K Police, Army and the civil administration successfully evacuated 38 vehicles carrying 235 passengers to safety amid heavy snowfall at the Sinthan Top connecting Kishtwar in Jammu region with south Kashmir’s Kokernag in Anantnag district.
A senior official from Kishtwar said that an information was received on Sunday afternoon that 235 civilians were stranded at Sinthan top due to heavy snowfall and adverse weather conditions. The Army troops were immediately mobilised to launch a swift rescue operation despite the treacherous terrain. “Braving extreme weather and snow-blocked roads, the rescue teams reached Sinthan Top and provided the stranded civilians with hot meals, drinking water and shelter. Repair and recovery teams restored the mobility of the stranded vehicles, while passengers from the unrecoverable vehicles were safely evacuated.
“Medical teams rendered assistance and essential medicines to those in need,” the White Knight Corps said in a post on X.
“The mission witnessed seamless coordination between the Army, J&K Police and the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation, reaffirming the Army’s unwavering commitment to safeguarding lives in the harshest conditions,” the post added.
Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar, Pankaj Kumar Sharma, along with SSP Naresh Singh and the commanding officer of the 11 Rashtriya Rifles, supervised the rescue operation, which continued for several hours, the official said.
Meanwhile, most higher reaches of Kashmir received moderate to heavy snowfall, while the plains were lashed by rains, disrupting vehicular movement in some stretches during last night.
Several vehicles got stuck following heavy snowfall along the high passes including Peer Ki Gali, Zojila etc. Officials said the tourist resorts of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, Doodhpathri in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, and Sonamarg in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, received moderate snowfall.
They said the higher reaches, including Pir Ki Gali along the Mughal Road in Shopian district of south Kashmir, Zojilla axis, Gurez in north Kashmir’s Bandipora, Sadhna Top in north Kashmir’s Kupwara, and Sinthan Top, connecting Anantnag in south Kashmir to Kishtwar in Jammu region, received heavy snowfall.
The officials said the snowfall has led to the closure of the vital road links in the valley, including the Gurez-Bandipora road, Sinthan-Kishtwar road, and the Mughal Road, the alternate road connecting the Kashmir Valley with the Jammu region.
They said vehicular movement has also been suspended on the Srinagar-Leh highway due to accumulation of snow at Zojila Pass.
The plains of the valley, including Srinagar, were lashed by rains which continued intermittently till Monday morning.
Srinagar city recorded 15.9 mm of rainfall over the last 24 hours. Pahalgam tourist resort, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, received 15.7 mm of rains.
The wet weather has brought down the temperatures across the valley.
Srinagar and Jammu Cities today experienced some improvement in the day temperature with the Sunny day. Jammu recorded 24 deg C temperature while Katra 22.3 deg C on Monday.
The other weather stations across the valley also registered below normal temperatures.
The lower temperatures broke the trend of unusually higher day temperatures prevalent in the valley over the last few weeks.
The Meteorological Department has forecast erratic weather till March 20. It said there is a possibility of a brief spell of light rain or snow in the higher reaches, at isolated places on Monday and Tuesday.
From March 18-20, the weather will remain generally cloudy with a possibility of intermittent light to moderate rain or snow at many places.
The MeT office said another wet spells is likely on March 24-25, with light rain, or snow in the higher reaches, at scattered places.
It said there is a possibility of thunder or gusty winds, about 40-50 kmph, at a few places on Monday, and March 18-20.
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