A woman and her son were among four people who died and three others injured in separate incidents of landslide in Reasi, flashfloods in Kathua and road accident in Udhampur districts, respectively, on Saturday, said officials.
“A truck driver was killed and two others were injured after the vehicle they were travelling in was hit by a landslide near Malai Nullah in Mahore area of Reasi district during the intervening night of Friday and Saturday,” said a police officer.
The truck was hit by a landslide on a hilly road and as a result the vehicle fell into Malai Nullah, he added.
The deceased truck driver was identified as Shahbaz Ahmad, a resident of Jamlan.
The injured were identified as Javeed, son of Mohammad Hussain, a resident of Kansooli and Abdul Ghani.
In another incident, a 68-year-old man, driving his car, was swept away in a flashflood in Kathua district. The deceased was identified as Ravi Kumar of Kathua town.
“The deceased tried to cross a road stretch flooded with rain waters near Dreamland Park in Kathua. There was a flashflood in the low lying stretch. Despite locals advising him to wait till the water subsided, the old man tried to cross the stretch,” said a police officer.
{{/usCountry}}“The deceased tried to cross a road stretch flooded with rain waters near Dreamland Park in Kathua. There was a flashflood in the low lying stretch. Despite locals advising him to wait till the water subsided, the old man tried to cross the stretch,” said a police officer.
{{/usCountry}}“The strong currents of water swept away the car. Later, a recovery vehicle pulled it out and the body was recovered from it,” he added.
In a separate incident on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway near Tikri in Udhampur district, a woman and her son from Kishtwar died and her husband injured when their car rammed into a parapet.
According to police, the deceased were identified as Shafiqa Begum, wife of Abdul Kabir Zargar and their 33-year-old son Asif Kabir Zargar, residents of Kishtwar.
“Their Baleno car from Jammu towards Kishtwar veered off the road and rammed into a roadside parapet,” said a police officer.
Injured Abdul Kabir Zargar has been hospitalised at the GMC, Jammu.
Meanwhile, the Met department has issued an alert of heavy to very heavy rains across the Jammu region till Tuesday.
In view of the prevailing weather conditions and the rainfall forecast issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), predicting light moderate rain and thunderstorms at many places during August 23 to 26 with heavy to intense showers at a few places of Jammu division.
“The public has been advised to follow the safety guidelines issued by the administration and avoid unnecessary travel during this period in order to ensure safety and minimise disruptions,” said an official spokesperson.
The Jammu District Emergency Operation Centre (DEOC), located at the DC Office Jammu, has been made operational 24x7 to address any emergency or assistance needs.
In case of contingency, the public can dial 0191-2571616 and 0191-2520542.
Similarly, the directorate of health services has issued an alert for medical staff.
“All the Chief Medical Officers, Medical Superintendents and Block Medical Officers are directed to keep all the institutions under their control in a state of readiness along with ambulances and to maintain sufficient stock of medicines to meet any exigency due to bad weather conditions during these days. Further, it is impressed upon all to the Chief Medical Officer(s) and DDOS to ensure that no officer/official leaves the station and if any employee is on leave he/she should report back immediately,” stated an order of Dr Abdul Hamid Zargar, director health services issued here.
Meanwhile, heavy downpour was recorded at several places in upper reaches of Kashmir on Saturday.
“From 27 to 31 August J&K could observe hot and humid weather with brief spells of rain/thunder at a few places,” the MeT said.
Srinagar today recorded 32.7 degree day temperature which was 2.7 degrees above normal temperature.