A general view of an overflowing Jhelum River after heavy rainfall in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on April 29, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Rains and fresh snowfall wreaked havoc in Kashmir valley on Monday, with landslides and flooding resulting in the closure of intra-district roads in the three Lok Sabha seats of Anantnag, Baramulla and Srinagar. It also impacted the poll campaigning in several areas.
The worst affected by rains and snowfall is north Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency, where all three districts of Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora witnessed snowfall in upper reaches and torrential rains in the plains.
Snowfall has completely cut off the Gurez valley, the Machil valley and Tangdhar from the district headquarters of north Kashmir, with two to three feet of snow accumulation recorded at the Razdan Top and the Sadna Top. Thousands of voters hail from these pockets. Snowfall badly impacted electioneering in these areas.
An official said several pockets of Kupwara witnessed flash flooding and submerging of highways, cutting off Kupwara district from Sopore. Landslides were also triggered in several areas like Kupwara’s Gujarnar-Rangpath and Qaziabad-Langate.
Residents of Bungam and Chogal in Handwara alleged that several houses started submerging around 4 a.m. An official said the Kupwara police along with SDRF, CRPF and the Army was carrying out rescue operations. The police advised locals to stay away from water bodies and urged those living near banks to “shift to safer places”.
In central Kashmir’s Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, landslides and snowfall impacted the upper reaches of Kangan, where class work was suspended due to inclement weather. Budgam district recorded multiple instances of landslide, cutting off several pockets of upper reaches. The worst affected were areas close to the Sonamarg area, which saw a major landslide.
In south Kashmir’s Anantnag constituency, traffic remained suspended on the Mughal Road where a fresh spell of snowfall was recorded. The Srinagar-Jammu national highway was also closed due to landslides. Several pockets of Pulwama witnessed flash floods and waterlogging.
“Water in the Jhelum river is below the danger mark so far. It’s likely to go up because of fresh rainfall in south Kashmir. People are advised to follow official advisories. We are fully prepared to deal with the situation,” Mifta Alam, Technical Officer of the Flood & Irrigation Department in Kashmir, said.
In Srinagar, the authorities formulated “an efficient plan to ensure prompt response to any flood like situation”. Deputy Commissioner Bilal Mohi-ud-Din Bhat called for “round the clock monitoring of vulnerable flood-prone spots and ensuring timely dissemination of information among the people about flood alerts, evacuation points, transportation plans, etc.”
According to the Meteorological Department (MeT), Srinagar received 38.6mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours. The MeT has predicted a fresh wet spell in the next 24 hours. “Weather is likely to improve from May 1,” the MeT said.
Earlier this month, the BJP’s Ravinder Raina, J&K Peoples Conference’s Imran Reza Ansari, J&K Apni Party’s Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari and the J&K Nationalist People’s Front made separate representations to the Election Commission (EC) “to delay the elections in Anantnag-Rajouri due to closure of the Mughal Road”. The fresh spell of inclement weather has cast a cloud on all three constituencies of the Kashmir valley. It has impacted poll rallies in cut-off areas.
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