Rains trigger flood scare in Kashmir, water level in most rivers remain high

Intermittent rains lashed many parts of Kashmir for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, keeping water levels in most rivers and streams high and triggering a flood scare, officials said.

The water level of the Jhelum river, which had crossed the flood declaration mark in Anantnag and Srinagar on Thursday night, has however begun to recede.

Intermittent rainfall continued across several parts of the valley, particularly in south Kashmir, causing many water bodies to swell.

Officials said the Jhelum river, which had risen above the flood declaration mark on Thursday, remained above the danger level at some locations on Friday, although its water level had been falling since morning.

At around noon, the water level of Jhelum at Sangam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district stood at 18.90 feet, just slightly below the flood declaration mark of 21 feet.

However, the river continued to flow above the flood declaration level at other monitoring points.

At Pampore, on the outskirts of Srinagar, Jhelum’s water level was recorded at 5.09 metres against the flood declaration mark of 4.5 metres, while at Munshi Bagh in Srinagar it stood at 18.99 feet, above the flood declaration mark of 18 feet, officials said.

They said water levels in the Jhelum’s tributaries across south Kashmir continued to rise as rainfall persisted in the region.

The Irrigation and Flood Control Department has been closely monitoring the situation and advised people to exercise utmost caution and avoid venturing near rivers, streams and other water bodies.

The Meteorological Department said south Kashmir received significant rainfall over the past 24 hours. Qazigund recorded 40.2 mm of rainfall till 8.30 am, followed by Kukernag with 39.2 mm and Pahalgam with 25.4 mm.

According to the weather office, the ongoing spell of rain over south Kashmir and adjoining areas is likely to continue intermittently till Friday afternoon, after which conditions are expected to improve gradually.

It has also forecast a fresh spell of wet weather across the region from July 28 to 31.