KL Report
SRINAGAR
The toll in the Jammu and Kashmir floods rose to 10 Thursday as incessant rain, which is likely to continue till Saturday, wreaked havoc in parts of the state. Four people were killed late Wednesday – two were washed away in flash floods in Poonch district of Jammu region, while two died in landslides triggered by flash floods in Badgam district of the Kashmir Valley.
Local Met Office Director Sonam Lotus said that more rainfall is expected in the state till Saturday. “We are expecting a decrease in precipitation after Saturday evening,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, five members of a family were killed in a landslide in Reasi district of Jammu region, while a BSF inspector was killed in a bunker collapse on the LoC in Poonch district of the same region.
Schools, colleges and other educational institutions in Srinagar, Pulwama, Kulgam, Islamabad and Shopian districts of the Valley have also been shut Thursday.
Kashmir University has postponed all its examinations scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
Scores of villages, especially in south Kashmir areas, have been inundated with flood waters and the residents have been shifted to safer places. Seven labourers have been trapped by flood waters of Ferozepur stream in Kunzar (Tangmarg) area of Baramulla district. These labourers were working at a stone crusher.
Flood waters entered Srinagar city’s bone and joint hospital in the Barzalla area when it breached the embankment of the Doodh Ganga channel. Flood waters and water logging due to inadequate drainage also inundated Safa Kadal, Eidgah, Nowshehra, Soura, Residency Road and several others areas in the city. Authorities said the water level of the Jhelum river was on the rise.
