Flood Fury in Jammu and Kashmir: Over 100 Killed; Home Minister Visits State

Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in Srinagar this morning and held a meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to take stock of the situation. After briefing the Home Minister, Mr Abdullah drove Mr Singh through the Srinagar city. The Home Minister will also conduct an aerial survey of the flood affected areas in Poonch, Rajouri and Anantnag districts.

The uptown area of capital Srinagar is the worst affected as River Jhelum is flowing several feet above the danger mark. Two vital medical facilities in the city have been submerged in the flood waters.

The southwest monsoon is vigorous over Jammu and Kashmir and the state has been witnessing heavy rain for past five days. The downpour is likely to continue for the next couple of days.

The flood has affected almost all 10 districts in the Jammu region. Landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have damaged roads, dozens of bridges, buildings and crops.

On Thursday, 63 people died when the bus they were travelling in was washed away in the flash floods in Rajouri district. Rescue teams have retrieved 25 bodies so far; several bodies were fished out five km away from the accident site.

The Army and the Air Force have been roped in by the government to rescue stranded people. As many as 6,000 people were rescued by the teams of Army and Air Force on Friday.

According to the Army, the situation in the state is as grim as it was in Uttrakhand last year.

The state government has closed all the schools till September 7.

A control room has been set up at Ramban district headquarters and all Sub-Divisional Magistrates and Tehsildars have been asked not to leave their headquarters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of lives in Jammu and Kashmir floods on Thursday and sanctioned Rs. 2 lakh for the family of those killed in rain related incidents and Rs. 50,000 for the seriously injured.