Jammu and Kashmir cloudburst: Buildings suffer damage due to flash floods; Srinagar-Leh highway closed

Representational Image. Pic/PTI

The officials on Sunday said that a Jammu and Kashmir cloudburst in Ganderbal district has damaged a road, leading to the closing of the arterial Srinagar-Leh national highway, reported news agency PTI.

"The traffic on Srinagar-Leh road has been suspended till further notice due to road damage at Kacherwan in Ganderbal district," an official of the traffic control room said, reported PTI.

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He said the road was damaged due to Jammu and Kashmir cloudburst during the intervening night, reported PTI.

A police official said some buildings, including residential houses, have suffered damage due to the flash floods triggered by the Jammu and Kashmir cloudburst, reported PTI.

Authorities are on the ground to provide help and assistance to those in need, the official said.

The closure of the highway has cut off Kashmir valley from Ladakh union territory while Baltal base camp for Amarnath yatra has also been rendered inaccessible.

Meanwhile, the Indian Army continues its efforts in rescue and restoration in the areas affected by the cloudburst that occurred on Thursday in Rampur's Samej.

The Army has established temporary bridges to establish connectivity between areas cut off to facilitate rescue operations.

Teams of NDRF, SDRF, Home Guard, and CISF have been coordinating to carry out the rescue and search operation.

The Home Guard Commandant, RP Nepta, informed ANI about the rescue operation that recommenced at 7 am in Rampur's Samej. He stated that five JCBs have been deployed today and various teams have been trying to coordinate to recover the maximum number of bodies.

"It is the fourth day today. Yesterday there was a review meeting. Today, we will work on war footing. Five JCBs have been deployed here. Task forces have been assigned different roles here. The search operation commenced at 7 am today. I am hoping that we will recover bodies today. Local people have told us where we can possibly find bodies. We will conduct search operations over there as well. We are also building a bridge," said the Home Guard Commandant.

Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh said on Saturday that around 50 people are feared dead in the affected areas and the official number can only be declared after official confirmation and completion of rescue operations.

Singh also said that the topmost priority of the state government is to retrieve the bodies and restore connectivity in the affected areas of the state as soon as possible.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)