People try to stop water flowing through the gate of a flood channel after incessant rains in Srinagar April 7, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Ismail

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Six people were killed and two were reported missing in India’s northern region of Kashmir on Friday, after heavy rain and snowfall swept the region, setting off avalanches and turning mountain rivers into raging torrents.

Helicopters were deployed to rescue people cut off by flash floods that revived memories of 2014, when the Jhelum River flowing through the region’s main city, Srinagar, burst its banks, swamping homes and killing 200 people.

Snowfalls triggered multiple avalanches, defense spokesman Rajesh Kalia told Reuters.

“A post in Batalik sector was buried,” he added. “Two out of five soldiers have been rescued. A rescue operation for three soldiers was in progress and three bodies have been recovered.”

In the Poonch region, an Indian Air Force helicopter was guided by a soldier holding a flare toward a group of villagers stranded on the far bank of a river. They climbed a rope ladder into the craft, which then flew them to safety.

Rajiv Pandey, senior superintendent of police in Poonch, said 17 people were evacuated from the area.

In Srinagar, the summer capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, some low-lying districts along the Jhelum were swamped but residents said the river was starting to recede.

“We are relieved as the water level is receding and the rains are reducing,” said one resident. “We are praying that rain should stop.”</s>Incessant rain and snowfall in Kashmir in the past few days has resulted in the swelling of rivers and streams, posing flood threat to the residential areas. The Jhelum river, which remained in spate for the second consecutive day on Friday, started receding in south Kashmir and Srinagar, bringing relief to people.

Please Wait while comments are loading...</s>Roads in Srinagar were waterlogged after heavy rain and snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir. (PTI)</s>Srinagar: A flood advisory asking people to remain vigilant was on Thursday issued for those living in south and central Kashmir after a rise in the water level of River Jhelum and its tributaries.

Jhelum has crossed the 'alarm level' of 18 feet at Sangam in Anantnag district, officials said.

"We have issued the advisory after the water level in River Jhelum crossed the 18 feet mark at Sangam," a senior official of the Irrigation and Flood Control department said.

He said although the water level was still rising in the river, the rate of increase had showed a downward trend in the past couple of hours.

"The rate of increase in the water level has shown a decline and it bodes well if the weather starts improving soon," the official said.

He said the water level at noon at Sangam was 18.40 feet while at Ram Munshi Bagh in the city it stood at 15.50 feet.

"In March 2015, a year after the devastating floods of 2014, the water level at Ram Munshi Bagh had reached 21.5 feet. So there is no need to panic yet," he added.

The 2014 floods had caused widespread destruction in the valley as more than 300 persons were killed in the deluge that struck in the month of September.

According to MET department officials, Srinagar received 83.9 mm rain and snowfall over the past 24 hours while Kokernag in south Kashmir received 69.9 mm of rains in the corresponding period.

Pahalgam, also in south Kashmir, recorded rainfall of 64.2 mm of rains in the past 24 hours, the officials said.

The incessant rains have forced closure of the arterial Jammu-Srinagar National Highway as the downpour has triggered landslides and shooting stones at several places along the 300-km road.

Massive traffic jams were witnessed in many parts of the city as the road were inundated as drains were overflowing.

The divisional administration has pressed into service pumps and fire tenders to de-water the city roads.

The authorities have also closed down all schools in the valley till Sunday in view of the rain and snowfall at this time of the year.

The University of Kashmir and Islamic University have postponed all examinations for the day.

The Health Department has directed all district and block level officers to prepare for exigencies in case of flood.</s>Incessant rain and untimely snowfall in the plains on Thursday caused a flood-like situation in Jammu and Kashmir, even though the Met office said there would be overall improvement in weather from Friday.

Faced with untimely fresh snowfall in the plains and continuous rains during the last three days, the divisional administration on Thursday ordered closure of all schools in the Kashmir Valley till Monday.

Most water bodies in the valley including rivers, lakes and streams were swollen.

The flood control department on Thursday alerted all its staff to be present at their places of posting round the clock so that the water level in local rivers, lakes and streams can be continuously monitored.

Authorities said the water level in Jhelum River at 1 am on Thursday was a metre below the danger mark at Sangam in south Kashmir, Ram Munshibagh in Srinagar and Asham in north Kashmir.

Reports, however, said Ferozepur stream in north Kashmir Baramulla district had breached its bank and entered some of its villages.

“Teams have been rushed to these areas to organise relief and rescue,” police said.

“There would be gradual decrease in snow and rainfall activity from Thursday afternoon and improvement in weather will start from tomorrow (Friday),” Sanam Lotus, director of the J&K Met department told IANS on phone from Delhi.

“Therefore, there is no need to panic, but at the same time, people living in low lying areas might face inconveniences due to water logging and problems allied with it,” he added.

Met office had issued an adverse weather advisory which ends Thursday evening.

It had also forecast the likelihood of landslides on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in addition to hailstorm and windy gales during this period.</s>The waters of the Jhelum started receding from Friday morning, easing fears of a flood in south and central Kashmir, PTI reported. On Thursday, the river had crossed the “flood declaration” mark at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar, forcing authorities to set up emergency control rooms.

The waters first started receding at Sangam in Anantnag district around 3 am on Friday. While the water level at Ram Munshi Bagh is still increasing marginally, it is expected to come down in a couple of hours. Water levels in the Jhelum’s tributaries, such as Veishov, Rambiara and Lidder, have also receded substantially in the past six hours, the agency quoted government officials as saying.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday morning and offered her support on dealing with the floods.</s>A flood alert was issued for south and central Kashmir on Thursday after the Jhelum and its tributaries crossed the 18-feet mark at Sangam in Anantnag district, the Kashmir Reader reported. Police have set up 24-hour emergency helplines in all districts of the valley and are on high alert, ANI reported.

An official of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department told PTI that the water at the Sangam gauge was 18.40 at noon, 40 notches above the ‘flood alarm’ mark and three feet below the 21-feet mark when floods are officially declared. He also said that the water level at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar city was 15.50 feet at noon, a few notches below the 16-feel flood alarm level.

“People residing along embankments of the Jhelum and in low-lying areas of south and central Kashmir have been requested to remain vigilant,” the official said. However, he insisted that there was no need to panic.

According to the Meteorological Department, Srinagar had received 83.9 mm rain and snowfall over the past 24 hours, while Kokernag in south Kashmir had received 69.9 mm of rain during the same period.

The continuous rain had forced the arterial Jammu-Srinagar National Highway to be closed to vehicular traffic, reported Mint.</s>Two of the three soldiers trapped in an avalanche in Jammu and Kashmir’s Batalik were found dead on Friday while the third one is still missing.

Multiple avalanches tore through Batalik sector on Thursday as the Valley reeled under unprecedented rain and snow that swelled rivers and inundated vast areas.

Two civilians are also missing after a vehicle they were travelling in skidded of the road and fell into a stream in Anantnag district. Five other passengers were rescued.

The administration declared floods in Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar where the Jhelum’s water level rose alarmingly and shut education institutions for three days, officials said.

Kashmir experienced rare snowfall in April with vast areas blanketed in white due to the freak weather phenomemon.

An army spokesperson said the heavy snowfall triggered multiple avalanches, burying one post in the Batalik sector.

Two out of five trapped soldiers misisng were rescued on Thursday. Specially trained and equipped avalanche rescue teams have been deployed for the operations in the area.

Kashmir has seen devastating avalanches this year with fourteen soldiers swept away in Gurez, Bandipora and an army major in Ganderbal on January 25. Five more soldiers buried under snow on January 28 were pulled out alive in the Macchil sector of Kupwara. They, however, succumbed to their injuries two days later.

Incessant rains also forced closure of the arterial Jammu-Srinagar National Highway as the rains triggered landslides and shooting stones at several places along the 300-km road.

The Jhelum river, which had breached its banks in 2014, originates in south Kashmir’s Sangam area of Anantnag district. Then its passes through capital Srinagar and Asham in Bandipora before crossing into Pakistan.

Police also established emergency helplines across the valley.

“Police have put its men on high alert to meet any possible challenge and eventuality and has established emergency control rooms in all the districts of the valley to provide help to the people in need,” a police spokesman said.

According to the met department, Srinagar received 98mm rainfall, Kokernag 106mm in Kokernag and tourist resort Pahalgam 87 mm since Wednesday morning.</s>On a chilly Thursday, Kashmiris found that the morning had brought waterlogged homes, streets and alleys, and a Jhelum river filled to the brim after three days of incessant and heavy rain. Many people had been up all night, watching for the water to reach their porches and making arrangements to evacuate in a hurry. It was a traumatic reminder, especially for those living near the river bank, of the devastating floods of September 2014 that had left over 300 people dead and displaced thousands.

As a flood alert was sounded, panicked resident started moving to the upper floors of their homes or to areas with a lower chance of flooding. Fortunately, the rain let up on Friday and the weather cleared. The immediate danger was over. But the fear remains even now.

Ever since winter gave way to spring, residents of Kashmir have been plagued by bad weather, rain and untimely snow. This led to a flood-like situation on Thursday.

On the Jhelum embankment near Lal Chowk in Srinagar, scores of people stood watching the swollen river, taking photographs and circulating them along with weather updates on WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms. An app gave out hourly updates of water levels issued by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department.

On Thursday night, the Jhelum touched its highest gauge level of 21.7 feet at the Sangam in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district and of 19.1 feet at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar. In 2014, the river had crossed 33 feet at the Sangam and 23 feet at Ram Munshi Bagh.

The rising waters caused panic all around. In the outskirts of Srinagar, young men carrying children could be seen leaving their homes as the water came up to their knees. Shopkeepers in the Lal Chowk area rushed around trying to save as much of their goods as possible.

A mother in Srinagar’s Peer Bagh shifted her two children to the non-flood-prone Zakura area 15 km away, and came back to shift her belongings to the upper floors, praying silently all the time. She said she had stayed up all night watching the front porch for signs of approaching water.

On the Jhelum, too, houseboat owners spent a sleepless night adjusting their moorings as the water levels rose. A rise of six inches meant tightening the ropes to prevent the boats from being swept away, they said.

The rain continued to fall through the day, with a brief interval in the late evening. And as night fell, there was panic again as the houseboats rose to within a few feet of the level of the embankment.

Muneer Bhat, a resident of Srinagar’s Tulsi Bagh, had also been watching the water levels rise but it wasn’t until a panicked call from a friend at 11 am that he began to worry. “Flood alert has been issued,” said the voice on the other end of the line.

In the next few hours, Bhat had cleared out most of the ground floor of his house. Cans of oil, bags of rice and other essentials had been placed haphazardly in a corner of a higher floor of the building. “A lot had been spent on renovations after the 2014 flood,” he said.

As the flood alert was sounded, the city’s municipal commissioner told the Valley’s sole private FM radio station that the drainage systems were burdened with double the amount of water they could drain. The severity of the waterlogging was evident when vehicles fell into dug-up patches of the road near Jehangir Chowk.

The Jammu and Kashmir government, on its part, announced that all schools and colleges in Kashmir would remain closed until Monday.

However, Sonam Lotus, director of the meteorological department, said that while people needed to remain vigilant, a “flood of the magnitude of 2014 won’t arise”. The weather will improve, he told a news gathering agency.

Proving his forecast right, the sun came out on Friday. But it brought reports of the death of a passenger of a taxi that had skidded off the road and fallen into the Jhelum in Anantnag the day before. The driver is still missing. The bodies of three soldiers trapped in an avalanche in the Batalik sector in Ladakh were also recovered. The region had witnessed multiple avalanches on Thursday.

In Srinagar, the water levels were slowly receding but the fear of flooding and more rain remained. Kashmiris have lived with this fear for a few years now. It surfaced in March-April 2015 too, when the Valley received heavy rainfall and the Jhelum had risen dangerously.

Residents said the slow pace of dredging and encroachments on the river banks were to blame for rivers and tributaries breaching their banks.</s>New Delhi (Sputnik) — The Batalik Sector, which is at an altitude of more than 16,000 feet, is prone to avalanches. Earlier this year, the Army lost 19 soldiers in similar avalanches in Gurez, Bandipora, Kupwara and a Major in Ganderbal in January.

Heavy rainfall in the Indian side of Kashmir has triggered landslide and avalanche in various parts of Kashmir. “Unprecedented snowfall triggered multiple avalanches; a Post in Batalik Sector buried. Special teams toiled inhospitable weather & 15 feet snow overnight; body of 3rd soldier retrieved. Soldiers martyred guarding icy heights,” said a statement from the Northern Command of the Indian Army.

Meanwhile, the rain has created havoc in the valley. The water level in the Jhelum River is above the danger mark and a number of areas in Kashmir have been submerged. People are appreciating the Indian Army which is engaged in relief and rescue across the valley.
Six people are killed and two are missing after the Jhelum River in Kashmir overflows following heavy rain and snowfall.