Intermittent rains lashed parts of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday temporarily disrupting the Amarnath Yatra in Kashmir and closing Mughal road for a few hours due to landslides.
Officials said that after the Amarnath cave shrine in Kashmir Himalayas received rainfall early morning, the yatra was temporarily suspended from both the base camps in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam and central Kashmir’s Ganderbal. “The rains triggered suspension of yatra for some time before resuming the pilgrimage from the Pahalgam side,” an official manning yatra control room in south Kashmir said.
In Ganderbal, the yatra started at 4 am but stopped at 7 am due to the rains. “Usually, yatris are allowed to move up to the cave shrine up to 9 am but today it was suspended early,” said another official. The rains lashed many parts of Kashmir valley from early morning including Srinagar, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Pahalgam and Banihal in Jammu.
A meteorological department update said that till 8.30 in the morning, Pahalgam received 34.9mm followed by Bhaderwah with 19.8mm, Jammu 14mm, Katra 12.8mm, Batote 6.6mm, Banihal and Kokernag 6.0mm each.
A prominent weather spotter of Kashmir under the twitter handle Kashmir_weather informed that flash floods have hit Drabgam Pulwama and other adjacent villages. “Diversion bridge washed away at Rahmoo, Pulwama. This used to connect Pulwama with Pakherphora and Charar-i-Sharief,” he said.
The rains intensified in Srinagar and continued intermittently throughout the day. Owing to the bad weather, Mughal road was closed for a few hours due to a landslide in the Ratta Chamb area, officials said. The traffic police in a tweet said that the Mughal road was blocked due to the landslide and shooting stones at Ratta Chamb in the afternoon but was later through at 5.30 in the evening.
The meteorological department said that from July 17 to 20, rain and thundershowers were expected at scattered places in J&K likely towards early mornings, late afternoons or evenings. “From July 21-22, there are chances of intermittent light to moderate rain and thundershowers at scattered places of J&K. Overall, there’s no forecast of any major rainfall till July 25,” said director, MeT, Sonam Lotus.
While the maximum temperatures came down during the day, the minimum temperatures during the night between Saturday and Sunday were above normal. The summer capital Srinagar recorded a minimum of 21.6°C, some 3.5°C above normal.
Pahalgam in south Kashmir witnessed 16.2°C, some 4.2°C above normal for the resort. The mercury in Gulmarg settled at 14.0°C, 2.2°C above normal.
The winter capital Jammu recorded a minimum temperature of 25.1°C against 26.6°C on the night before that.
Meanwhile, A 53-year-old woman Yatri was killed while two members of Mountain Rescue Team of J&K Police were grievously injured in a shooting stone incident between Sangam Top and Lower Cave in south Kashmir late last evening, officials said on Sunday.
Police said that while the woman Urmilaben daughter of Laxmi Naryan was seriously injured after being hit by the shooting stone, two members of Mountain Rescue Team of J&K Police, Mohammed Salem and Mohammed Yaseen, suffered grievous wounds while they were trying to rescue her. The woman succumbed to her injuries before being shifted to hospital while the injured Police personnel were evacuated by army and private helicopter on Yatra duty, they said.
DGP J&K Dilbag Singh has condoled the “unfortunate” death of the Yatri and has also expressed sympathy with the bereaved family. “The DGP appreciated the commitment of two policemen and expressed his thanks to everyone involved in the quick evacuation. He wished early recovery to Jawans.”
Meanwhile, eight CRPF personnel, on their way to perform Yatra, sustained injuries, five of them mild, when their vehicle skidded off road and fell into a ditch near one kilometer from Nilgrath area in Baltal in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir.
One among three seriously injured, Patil Bhattu, has been referred to SKIMS Soura, they said. Condition of the rest of the injured is stated to be stable, they said. The personnel had taken casual leave to perform Yatra, they added.
