Three persons died and one was left injured after their tent in South Kashmir’s Awantipora came under the debris due to a rain-triggered landslide in the region, Pulwama deputy commissioner Baseer Ul Haq Choudhary said.
Initially, all four persons were taken to a hospital after which three people succumbed to their injuries. “The administration has shifted some more families to safer locations. A bund had collapsed due to rainfall,” Choudhary added.
He informed that the three deceased hail from Kalakote in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Rajouri district, but belong to different families. All four persons were part of a nomad group.
Heavy rain accompanied by untimely snowfall has been occurring in J&K since early this week. Earlier in the day, the traffic police of the Union Territory (UT) said that the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH-44), which connects the region with the rest of India, has been shut owing to landslides in Ramban and Udhampur.
“The incessant rains are hampering the restoration work on the highway…It will take at least five hours to clear the landslide in Cafeteria Morh area after the rain stops,” news agency PTI reported quoting senior superintendent of police (national highway) Shabir Malik.
Besides landslides, heavy rainfall has triggered shooting stones. Malik further told that authorities have kept their machines and men ready to clear roads if the need occurs.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted the current extreme weather conditions to continue for the next 12 hours. Heavy rain is expected over south Kashmir, Chenab Valley, Reasi, Poonch, Rajouri and Pirpanjal, among other regions.
In its latest bulletin, the IMD has also predicted “thunderstorm accompanied with lightning, hail and gusty winds (40-50 km/h)” at isolated areas of J&K for today. Similar weather barring the gusty wind has been forecasted over the UT for tomorrow as well.
The J&K Traffic Police has also issued an advisory for today, urging people to confirm the status of all landslide or mudslide prone roads, including the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, before undertaking journeys. It has also asked people to avoid venturing out in avalanche-prone regions.