Jammu: At least 11 people, including seven of a family, died in two incidents of cloudburst and landslide triggered by heavy rains in remote villages of Reasi and Ramban districts, as Jammu and Kashmir, beset by a series of natural calamities in the past fortnight, labours to bring life back on track.
The Union Territory has been reeling under a series of cloudbursts and landslides since August 14. With the latest incidents, 130 people have lost their lives and 140 were injured in Jammu, while 32 pilgrims are still missing.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has directed officials to ensure round-the-clock monitoring of the situation and carry out timely evacuation of people from risk-prone zones.
The record rainfall across the Jammu region earlier this week left a trail of devastation, with hundreds of properties damaged and dozens of roads and bridges washed away, forcing the suspension of traffic on key highways, besides virtually paralysing the rail traffic.
In Ramban district, four people, including two brothers, died after a cloudburst struck a remote village, damaging two houses and a school. The cloudburst triggered flash floods in the mountainous Rajgarh, located about 25 kilometres from the district headquarters, around 11.30 pm on Friday.
“Bodies of four people were recovered from underneath the debris after a hectic search by rescuers, comprising local volunteers, police and SDRF,” Deputy Commissioner of Ramban, Mohammad Alyas Khan, told PTI.
According to the meteorological department, Bhaderwah town in Doda district recorded the highest 51.6 mm of rainfall till 8.30 am, followed by Katra 42 mm, Kathua 32 mm and Batote-Ramban 16.8 mm.
It has forecast moderate to heavy rain with brief intense showers at many places over Jammu, Kathua, Rajouri, Reasi, Doda, Samba and Udhampur till 9 pm on Saturday and warned of likely flashfloods or landslides at a few vulnerable places.
46 trains cancelled
The Northern Railways will run two special trains from the Jammu station for onward destinations on Saturday to ferry stranded passengers, while 46 incoming and outgoing trains from Jammu, Katra and Udhampur railway stations stand cancelled, officials said.
The Railway Police and civil administration have established a dedicated help desk at the Jammu railway station to assist stranded passengers.
“To facilitate the movement of stranded passengers, the railways have decided to run two reserved special trains from Jammu today,” PRO Railways, Jammu division, said.
He informed that the first train, Jammu Tawi–Dr Ambedkar Nagar reserved special, will depart at 3 pm, while another train, Jammu Tawi–Chhapra reserved special, will depart at 5 pm.
The first train has 700 reserved seats vacant, while the second has 900 reserved seats vacant.
On Thursday, Northern Railways operated two special unreserved trains from Jammu station, carrying around 3,000 stranded passengers to their destinations following unprecedented monsoon havoc in the Union Territory.
Referring to multiple queries about the status of Katra–Srinagar–Katra Vande Bharat trains, the PRO said that services are normal on this route.
“Passengers stranded due to landslides and cloudbursts can use these services between Katra–Srinagar–Katra,” he said.
Scores of people, especially pilgrims, were stranded as heavy rains lashed the Jammu region since August 26, severely disrupting rail and road traffic. A landslide that struck near the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra claimed 34 lives. The Jammu region recorded its heaviest rainfall since 1910, at 380 mm by Wednesday.
The Northern Railways has cancelled 46 incoming and outgoing trains from Jammu, Katra and Udhampur railway stations on Saturday.
Train traffic has remained suspended for the past five days following heavy rains and flash floods in the Jammu region on Tuesday.
With suspension of rail traffic between Kathua and Udhampur due to misalignment and breaches at multiple locations, trains are being cancelled, an official said.
A list of cancelled trains released by the PRO, Railways Jammu division, also includes five trains with short-origin and short-termination arrangements.
Jammu-Srinagar National Highway cleared
The Jammu-Srinagar national highway was reopened only for stranded vehicles on Saturday after being closed for four days owing to multiple landslides and caving-in of a 60-meter stretch in Udhampur district following record rainfall earlier this week, a senior official said.
However, normal traffic is yet to resume on the 250-km all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country.
National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Project Director, Ramban, Shubam said efforts are on to ensure early reopening of the highway for normal traffic.
“We had almost completed the restoration work at 6 pm on Friday and were hopeful of allowing traffic on the strategic highway this (Saturday) morning. But fresh overnight rains hampered our efforts,” he told PTI.
Shubam said the work was restarted immediately on a 60-meter stretch of the road, which caved in at Benali Nallah between Chenani and Udhampur.
After taking some time to allow the boulder base to settle down, the stranded vehicles, especially those carrying perishable items, including fruit-laden trucks, oil tankers and light motor vehicles were allowed to move on from both ends in a regulated manner.
According to officials, more than 2,000 vehicles were stranded on either end of the highway after the August 26 rainfall, which flooded low-lying areas and left a trail of death and destruction in the Jammu region.
Udhampur received the highest recorded rainfall of 630 mm for the same 24-hour period ending 8.30 am on August 27, surpassing the earlier highest of 342 mm on July 31, 2019, while Jammu logged 380 mm of rainfall during the same period, the highest ever recorded in the city since 1910 when the observatory was set up.
“The rest of the highway was already cleared of landslide debris and stones at various places in the Ramban sector. The main problem was the Udhampur-Chenani stretch, and 90 per cent of the work is almost complete.
“If weather permits and there is no damage, we are likely to open the highway on Sunday for normal traffic after clearing all stranded vehicles,” the NHAI official said.
A traffic department official said the vehicles are playing on the Mughal Road that links Poonch and Rajouri districts in the Jammu region with south Kashmir’s Shopian, and the Sinthan Top road that links Kishtwar district in Jammu and south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
There was a mudslide near Parna-Chingam along the Sinthan Top road, but it was cleared by the officials and made motorable this morning, the official said.
He said traffic is also plying on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway, though one tube each of Sahar Khad and Lakhanpur-Madhopur bridges remained closed and traffic was diverted to the second tube.
(This is an updated version)
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