Incessant rains lash Valley; flood alert sounded in several parts

SRINAGAR: Incessant rains in plains and untimely snowfall in the higher reaches on Wednesday resulted in flood-like situation in several parts of Kashmir Valley. The administration sounded flood alert in south and central Kashmir following rise in water levels in the Jhelum river.
Incessant rains coupled with snowfall and fall in temperature in the Valley was experienced in June after many decades.
Though the Met department predicted an improvement in the weather from afternoon, the administration set up monitoring systems in various districts of the Valley.
The water level rose above the danger mark at Sangam in south Kashmir as well as at Ram Munshibagh in Srinagar, the spot where water level is measured during impending floods.
An official of the Irrigation & Flood Control department confirmed that Jhelum has already crossed 21ft when flood is declared at Sangam. The river was flowing at 16.21ft at Ram Munshibagh, 0.21ft above the alarm level of 16ft and 1.69ft below flood level of 18ft.
Srinagar city on Tuesday recorded a maximum temperature of 15 degrees Celsius, 14.2 notches lower than the normal for this time of the year, officials said.
In Udhampur district, a 150ft stretch of the Jammu-Srinagar highway was washed away on Wednesday near Toldi Nallah, 16km away from Udhampur town, even as landslides in Ramban and Udhampur districts forced closure of the strategic road for the second consecutive day.