J&K floods: Death toll reaches 10 as cloudbursts devastate Rajouri, Poonch

As the horrors of unprecedented death and destruction caused by the flood unfold in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir bonechilling reports of human suffering and infrastructure collapse came to light on Monday with hundreds of fortunate civilians escaping death with a whiskerLG Manoj Sinha took stock of the situation on SundayChief Minister Omar Abdullah chaired a meeting of senior officers in Jammu directing every department to go all out to help the affected familiesReports said right after he reached Jammu on Sunday and up to Monday morning Omar Abdullah was receiving calls for halfhourly reports of the evolving situation and he also kept calling officers and civilians to assure them that he was standing with them in these tragic timesTen people were killed eight went missing these are also feared to have died as bodies are still trapped under tons of debris while at least 20 vehicles were washed away and nearly 40 others suffered damage as flash floods triggered by multiple cloudbursts wreaked havoc in Rajouri and Poonch districts during the early hours on SundayThe flash floods also caused damage to at least 47 houses and other structures in the Surankote area of Poonch while at least a score of shops and other structures were damaged in the Rajouri areaAbout 45 people trapped in floods were rescued from Jammu Rajouri and Poonch areas on SundayDue to flash floods many electricity poles and half a dozen transformers were damaged and power supply to several areas of Thannamandi Darhal in Rajouri and Surankote Mandi and Haveli in Poonch was snappedOfficial sources said that 15 people were washed away or buried under the debris in the Surankote area of Poonch due to flash floods triggered by multiple cloudbursts in the upper reaches during early Sunday morningWhile eight bodies could be traced by the Army Police and the SDRF men with the help of locals by this evening eight others were still missingThree persons were injured in these incidents and were removed to the hospital Reports said that at least four dozen houses and other structureswater mills etc were damaged due to a cloudburstflash floodDozens of the cattle of the affected villagers also perished in the flash floods in the Suran River and adjoining NallahasA police official said that a residential house was washed away at Marrah village of Surankote due to a flash flood while eight members of a family went missingThree bodies of this family were later retrieved while the remaining five bodies dumped under the debris were yet to be tracedAnother house of a villager was washed away at Sangla village One body of this family has been retrieved while the search for the three other missing persons was going on the official saidA villager was washed away at Sanglani and another at Marhote in Surankote Sub DivisionThe bodies of both these villagers were retrieved A Kucha house collapsed in the Haveli area of Poonch in which a woman Nazia Kouser died and her husband Mohd Hafiz was severely injuredHe was removed to District Hospital Poonch and later referred to GMC Rajouri for advanced treatmentOfficials said that the teams of civil police administration Army locals along with SDRF and other agencies are on the job to retrieve the missing bodiesThey said more than 30 people were rescued from the riverside People in residential areas along water bodies have been asked to stay alert for the next few days as the Meteorological Department has predicted flash floods and heavy rain in the regionReports from Rajouri said that a devastating flash flood triggered by a cloudburst caused widespread destruction in Rajouri leaving a woman dead and a Jal Shakti Department dailywage worker missingThe flood wreaked havoc along the banks of Thannamandi River washed away about two dozen vehicles and caused extensive damage to at least 40 other vehicles at the Bus Stand near Bela Colony in Rajouri and residential houses shops public infrastructure agricultural land and livestockThe flash floods struck Rajouri town at around 245 am on Sunday after heavy rainfall lashed Thannamandi Darhal and the upper hilly areasThe sudden rise in the water level of the Sukhto River and other seasonal streams inundated several lowlying localities disrupting normal life across the districtHouses shops roads and public infrastructure suffered extensive damage while many families were forced to evacuate to safer locationsThe district administration along with the Army SDRF Police Civil Defence and other rescue agencies immediately launched largescale rescue and relief operations in the affected areasOfficials said a comprehensive assessment of the losses is underway with all concerned departments compiling detailed reports on the damageThe worsthit area was Bela Colony where floodwaters breached the river protection wall and entered the New Bela Bus Stand and adjoining residential localitiesAround 20 vehicles parked at the bus stand were swept away by the powerful currents while nearly 40 other vehicles sustained severe damageSeveral commercial establishments workshops and shops located behind Bela Colony were completely destroyed The Bela Bus Stand was established a few years agoEyewitnesses described the flood as one of the worst witnessed in Rajouri in recent decades with vehicles carried away within minutes by the raging watersThey held past district administrations MCR responsible for establishing a bus stand and shopping complex on the riverbank and wasting huge public moneyThey said most of the state land was encroached upon along the bank of the Nallah by some influential people who raised shops with the connivance of officials in the local administrationThe flood also devastated the slum settlements near Abdullah Bridge and Tariq Bridge More than 50 families lost their homes after floodwaters submerged the settlementsA woman identified as Pinky Devi lost her life after being swept away in the flood and her body was later recovered by rescue teamsBesides the tragic loss of life several families lost livestock household belongings and their lifetime savings leaving them with nothing but the clothes they were wearingBonechilling stories of human beings virtually being snatched from the jaws of death by courageous Army soldiers NDRF SDRF JampK Police and civilians continue to pour in from the affected areas as rain continues unabated in almost all districts of Jammu division and the ValleyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever