JAMMU/SRINAGAR: A 13-year-old boy was buried alive as a fresh
landslide
hit Karool area in
Ramban
district on Monday afternoon even as incessant rains battered Jammu’s hilly areas, triggering landslides and shooting stones along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway while also damaging houses with 2km radius of the spot of subsidence in Pernote village.
The
Jhelum
’s rising water levels, meanwhile, kept
Kashmir Valley
on the edge. All border roads were closed due to fresh snowfall and avalanche threat.
“The minor was identified as Yaqoob Mir, a resident of Karool Ramban. His body is yet to be recovered by rescue teams,” said an official.
“Land subsidence in village Pernote has led to sinking in Nimnad and Telga wards. Residents are at risk,” Ramban deputy commissioner Bashir-ul-Haq Choudhary posted on X. As a precautionary measure, as many as 100 families along with their livestock were moved from affected areas in Pernote to safer places as the subsidence continued.
Jhelum’s water level touched the ‘alarm’ mark of 17.43ft in south Kashmir’s Sangam gauge at 9pm Monday. An irrigation and
flood
control department official said: “Flood
alert
is declared as soon as it crosses the 21ft-mark. A flood is declared when the water level breaches 25ft.”
At Srinagar’s Ram Munshi Bagh, the water level was at 15.35ft. Several areas in Bemina — one of the worst-hit places in 2014 floods — were submerged. Srinagar deputy commissioner and District Disaster Management Authority chairman Bilal Mohiuddin Bhat chaired a meeting to review flood control and mitigation measures.
As many as 336 families — 198 from Handwara tehsil alone — were relocated to safer places from flood-affected areas of Kupwara district. At least 51 villages in Kupwara have been partially affected while five have been hit hard, the official said. Floods damaged buildings and bridges besides cutting off roads in some places and led to closure of schools across the district.
In Kishtwar district, at least 12 residential houses and a school suffered damages. The Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained blocked for over five hours due to landslides in Udhampur and Ramban. The fresh landslide in Karool damaged two houses and killed five horses, 12 goats and 29 sheep, Ramban additional deputy commissioner Varunjeet Singh Charak said. Authorities in Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar districts ordered the closure of schools. Maitra area in the main township also witnessed fresh landslides. “Experts from Geological Survey of India are surveying the affected areas to know the reason behind the subsidence,” Charak added.
Former MP and Congress candidate Chowdhary Lal Singh visited Pernote village. He urged departments concerned to conduct a comprehensive study of the causes of the disaster and sought Rs 10 lakh compensation and a govt job for one member of each affected family.
Kishtwar deputy commissioner Devansh Yadav said individuals whose houses were damaged were provided with immediate relief from Red Cross Society. “The civil and police administration are monitoring the situation closely and have also set up an emergency helpline,” he added.
The continuous rain was hampering restoration work, officials said, advising commuters to avoid travelling on the NH till it was cleared of debris. In view of the rain, thunderstorms and snowfall, Reasi Police have requested residents to remain indoors and released a list of emergency numbers.