The Kashmir Pulse

PULWAMA — In a harrowing ordeal for the residents of Tenghar village in southern Kashmir's Pulwama district, a sudden flash flood wreaked havoc, inundating over a dozen homes and causing extensive damage to household belongings late Friday night.

The catastrophe unfolded as incessant rainfall over several days led to a sharp rise in the water level of a nearby river, culminating in a surge of water that breached its banks and surged into residential areas.

Reports indicate that the flash flood, striking around 11 pm, caught residents off guard, triggering panic and chaos as water inundated homes, including toilets and washrooms. The aftermath was extensive damage, with mats, rugs, and other belongings damaged by the muddy deluge.

Furthermore, the agricultural livelihoods of many households suffered a blow, as kitchen gardens and vegetable patches near the riverbanks bore the brunt of the flooding, compounding the residents' woes.

Speaking to The Kashmir Pulse, affected residents lamented the recurrent nature of such disasters and criticized the apparent lack of effective response from the authorities. They recounted previous instances of flooding and highlighted the failure of the administration to address the underlying issues.

Residents described frantic efforts to ensure the safety of their loved ones, particularly women and children, during the night when the flash floods struck. Despite their distress, they noted a lack of official assistance, with only local police providing minimal support.

While employees from the Department of Irrigation & Flood Control visited affected families on Saturday, residents expressed disappointment, stating that officials merely assessed the damage without providing practical assistance such as pumps or cleaning equipment to mitigate the impact of the muddy water inundating their homes.

In the wake of the calamity, residents issued a fervent plea to district authorities, urging swift intervention and the construction of robust defences against potential future flash floods.

PULWAMA — Irrigation Department has asked the encroachers over water bodies in south Kashmir's Pulwama district to remove the illegal structures within a period of seven days, failing which strict action would be taken.

According to a notice, the people who have encroached over the irrigation land in the district have been asked to remove encroachments within seven days.

"If any person fails to remove the encroachment, the department would swing into action and people have to pay the charges of the same,” it said, adding, “Strict action under the law would be taken against the people who fail to remove illegal encroachments within the stipulated time.”

An unnamed official of the Irrigation Department was quoted by the news agency KNO as having said that hundreds of kanals of land are dependent on these water bodies for irrigation purposes besides that dozens of water supply schemes are dependent on them but on both sides of these water bodies, illegal structures have been erected. “Even trees lying there can prove dangerous sometimes,” he added.

"People at some spots have kept their bathroom pipes towards these water bodies which must be stopped as well and people must behave responsibly," the official said, adding that if people fail to demolish the illegal structures and cut down trees, action as per the law will be taken against them.

Under the Water Resources Management Act 2010, encroachers can be booked for one year and a fine of Rs 10,000 can be imposed against them, he said. “Rs 1000 fine per day will be imposed on the encroacher till he/she doesn’t clear the illegally-occupied irrigation land,” the official said.

PULWAMA — A mega lift irrigation scheme in Chakoora village of Litter Tehsil in south Kashmir's Pulwama district is awaiting completion even as land donors are waiting for compensation.

Locals told the news agency KNO that after repeated pleas, a scheme was approved for the area, and soon, work on said scheme was started. However, since then around a decade has passed but they are yet to witness any positive signs in this regard.

They said that around 80 percent of the work was completed but it has been suspended for the past three years due to unknown reasons. “We don't have any irrigation facilities available to our orchards due to which we are suffering in the summer season and have to rely on rainwater only,” said Zahoor Ahmad, a local resident.

He said that after work on the scheme was started, many growers cut down their almond orchards which require less water, and planted apple trees as they expected the scheme will provide them irrigation facilities but that did not happen. "Orchardists were earning their livelihood from almonds but after planting apple trees, they are suffering due to the shortfall of rains," he added.

Locals said that due to the unavailability of irrigation, trees are drying up and production remains very low besides being less delicious and small in size. “We provided land at a very low cost for the scheme but the compensation too was not paid so far,” they said, adding that they brought the issue to the notice of the concerned several times to no avail.

They requested concerned authorities to look into the matter and complete the scheme so that farmers won't suffer in the coming summer.

Meanwhile, an unnamed official was quoted by the news agency as having said that the scheme awaits completion because of some issues with land donors about compensation.

He said that around 80 percent of the work on the scheme is complete and the revised DPR for pending work and compensation component has been submitted to the higher-ups. "We are expecting that work on the project will be re-started soon," he said.

SRINAGAR — With rain receding, the flood threat in Kashmir eased considerably as the water level in Jhelum and other water bodies reduced, warding off the flood threats.

According to an official of the Irrigation and Flood Control department, the water level in Jhelum at Sangam gauge in south Kashmir was at 18.29 at noon on Thursday. However, the level was still above the ‘flood declaration mark’ of 18-ft.

At Ram Munshi Bagh, the Jhelum was flowing at 19.2-ft at noon against 19.77-ft at 4 AM today. “The water level is expected to reduce further as the day progresses,” said the official. The water level was still above the danger mark of 18-ft when a flood was declared in Srinagar.

At Asham in northern Kashmir’s Bandipora district, the official said, the Jhelum level was at 12.58ft, almost 2-ft below the mark when the flood is sounded there.

Regarding some tributaries, the official said, the water level has receded below the threat level now. He said Vishow Nallah at Khudwani Kulgam was flowing at 5.81m against the flood mark of 7.0m. "At noon on June 22, the water level in Vaishaw Nallah at Khudwani Kulgam had reached 10.7m," he said.

Similarly, the level at Rambiara Nallah at Wachi Shopian at noon was 1.99m against the danger mark of 5.7m while the Nallah Lidder at Batkoot was flowing at 0.76m against the danger level of 1.65m.

Doodhganga Nallah at Barzulla here was flowing at 1.78m against the dangerous mark of 3.8m; Sindh Nallah at Doderhama was flowing 1.99m against 3.36m at last (June 22) noon.

Meanwhile, as per the MeT department, weather is likely to remain generally dry in J&K till the month-end and there is no danger of flood in the union territory as of now.

SRINAGAR — The incessant rainfall in the past 16 hours has increased the water level of almost every water body, however, it is well below the danger mark in Jhelum, officials of the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) department said on Wednesday.

A top official of the department said that the water level in Jehlum has increased but it is below the danger level at every spot.

He said that the water level in some Nallahs like Vaishaw in Kulgam has increased and all the teams are alert along with machinery to provide possible help to the people.

There is a possibility of significant improvement in weather from today afternoon and the water level will possibly receed after the weather conditions improve.

There are reports of cloudburst at several places but as of now water isn't flowing above banks anywhere and all field teams are on job to access the situation.

People can get information about water levels from the Kashmir Flood alert android app and they must avoid visiting Nallahs unnecessarily and water discharge in Nallah is very high, he added.

Chief Engineer, I&FC, Naresh Kumar said that the situation at present is under control.

“In Sopore and Tangdhar areas, small breaches have taken place in Nallahs where the restoration work has already been started,” he said.

About Jhelum, he said that the water is flowing above alert level, but it would receed once the weather conditions improve.

After heavy rains, MeT forecasts improvement in weather

After heavy rains in the last 24 hours in Jammu and Kashmir, the weatherman has forecast a ‘significant improvement’ in weather from Wednesday afternoon. Also, there are reports about fresh snowfall at Baltal Base Camp near Amarnath cave as well as Kausarnag in Kulgam and Gurez in Bandipora districts.

An official of the Meteorological department here said that during the last 24 hours till 0830 hours today, Qazigund received 75.2mm, Pahalgam 46mm, Kokernag 45.2mm, Srinagar 57.8mm, Kupwara 34.8mm, Batote 121mm, Banihal 100mm and Gulmarg 69.6mm of rainfall.

“Rainfall has stopped in north-western districts. There is presently light rain in a few places of central Kashmir and many places of south Kashmir,” he said, adding, “There will be a further decrease in rainfall intensity as the day progresses.”

There will be a significant improvement in the weather from today forenoon, he said. “From 23rd onward, there's no forecast of any major rainfall till next one week,” he said.

Due to continuous rain over the last few days, he said, landslides and flash floods have occurred in many vulnerable places, mainly in hilly areas. “People are once again advised to travel on Srinagar-Jammu Highway, Mugal Road etc. only after confirming the road status from traffic police.”

He also urged people to avoid going or working near sloppy Nallas as “flash flood often occur suddenly”.