Water-logging in city, landslides on highway

Srinagar: Rains lashed Kashmir valley on Thursday for the second consecutive day, flooding the city streets and keeping the Srinagar-Jammu highway closed for the third consecutive day.
As per the weather office, most parts of the valley received rainfall till the evening. Deputy Director of the regional Meteorological Department, Dr.Mukthar Ahmad, told Kashmir Reader that there will be dry weather from Friday but the temperature is not expected to go up beyond 26 degrees Celsius.
The 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, remained closed for the third day. Landslides triggered by overnight rains blocked several other hilly roads in different parts of Jammu division this morning, officials said.
“The highway is still closed as overnight rains triggered fresh landslides and shooting of stones at various places including Panthiyal, Digdole, Samroli, Dalwas, Kunfer, Monkey Morh and Moum Passi,” a traffic department official said, adding that despite inclement weather, restoration work is going on to ensure early reopening of the road.
He said landslides also forced closure of different hilly roads, including Basohli-Kathua, Kotranka-Rajouri, Paddar-Kishtwar, Basant-Dudu and Doda-Bhaderwah this morning, but men and machines were on the job to restore these roads.
As per an official, more than 1,370 Kashmir-bound trucks loaded with essentials are stranded in Jammu, Samba and Udhampur districts for the past three days.
In Nagrota, 800 trucks have been stranded in different parts while 220 trucks are stranded in Samba and 300 to 400 trucks on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, the official informed.
As per reports, the water level in major rivers and streams across Jammu region is increasing due to heavy rains in the catchment areas.
In Srinagar, heavy rains on Thursday caused water-logging in most areas due to which normal life was affected.
The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has begun de-watering the submerged areas since early morning, pressing into service both mobile and stationed pumps across the city. The SMC has put in place 80 pumps that are working round the clock and all the catchment areas will be drained off, said Commissioner SMC, Gazanfar Ali.
“We have divided the city into four deployment zones – North, West, East and South – and set up a control room for deploying of dewatering pumps. We also appeal to people to directly contact the liaison officer of that particular zone for any help,” Ali said.
Besides this, SMC has put in place sucker machines and 115 mobile pumping units and, for the first time, eight high-capacity auto trolly-mounted pumping units in the city, Ali added.
Water-logging was seen at Lal Chowk, Hari Singh High Street, Ram Bagh, Hyderpora, Padshahi Bagh, Raj Bagh, Jawahar Nagar, Natipora, Lal Bazaar, Iqbal Colony Sonwari, and Lasjan during the day. Inhabitants of Naveedabad Batamaloo Bypass, Baba Demb, Samandar Bagh, and Shaltang also complained of water-logging in their areas.

NAZIMA SIDIQ