Section of Jammu-Srinagar NH washed away after heavy rains trigger flash floods

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June 22, 2022

Flash floods triggered by heavy rains washed away the shuttering of an under-construction bridge and a 150-foot section of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway even as landslides in Ramban and Udhampur districts forced closure of the strategic road for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded, officials said.

The traffic on the Mughal Road, which connects the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri in the Jammu region with south Kashmir’s Shopian district, was also suspended due to landslides, they said.

“The shuttering of under-construction Peerah bridge was washed away due to heavy rains (on highway)”, police official said, adding that the one which is normally used for traffic is safe.

In Udhampur district, a 150-foot stretch of the Jammu-Srinagar highway was washed away on Wednesday near Toldi Nallah, 16 kilometers away from Udhampur town, they said. Many machines were involved in the work to restore the road patch swept away in the flash floods in the Tawi river.

“Chances of road opening today are minimum. There are no report of any loss of life”, they said.”The Jammu-Srinagar highway is blocked due to fresh shooting stones and landslides at several places in Ramban district,” a traffic official said.

There are over 33 landslides, mudslides and incidents of shooting stones reported on the 270-km highway in Ramban and Udhampur districts, they said. The highway was closed for traffic due to shooting stones at Panthiyal on Tuesday. Work is on to clear the highway, the officials said.

The situation at Battery Cheshma on the highway is bad as a lot of mud is to be cleared to ensure that heavy vehicles trapped in it are cleared, they said.

The road connecting Khari to Mahoo and Khari to Nachlana blocked due to mudslide and shooting stones and part of the road sank at Hirnihaal, they said, adding the people are again advised not to venture out. According to some reports, over 1,000 vehicles are stranded at various places along the highway.

As highway continues to be closed for traffic, stranded passengers were provided with food and medical facilities, they said. It is still raining in Ramsoo-Ramban sector as of now, the officials said.

The Mughal Road is blocked due to landslides at Poshana while the SSG road is blocked at Chini nallah and efforts are on to clear them, they said.

However, heavy rains are hindering the cleaning operation, the officials said.

Official: Earthquake kills at least 920 people

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editor

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June 22, 2022

A powerful earthquake struck a rural, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border early Wednesday, killing at least 920 people and injuring 600 others, authorities said. Officials warned the death toll would likely rise.

Information remained scarce on the magnitude 6.1 temblor that damaged buildings in Khost and Paktika provinces. Rescue efforts are likely to be complicated since many international aid agencies left Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover of the country last year and the chaotic withdrawal of the U.S. military from the longest war in its history.

Neighboring Pakistan’s Meteorological Department said the quake’s epicenter was in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, just near the border and some 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the city of Khost. Such temblors can cause severe damage, particularly in an area like this one where homes and other buildings are poorly constructed and landslides are common.

Footage from Paktika province showed people being carried into helicopters to be airlifted from the area. Others were treated on the ground. One resident could be seen receiving IV fluids while sitting in a plastic chair outside the rubble of his home and still more were sprawled on gurneys. Other images showed residents picking through clay bricks and other rubble from destroyed stone houses.

Afghan emergency official Sharafuddin Muslim gave the death toll in a news conference Wednesday. Earlier, the director-general of state-run Bakhtar news agency, Abdul Wahid Rayan, wrote on Twitter that 90 houses have been destroyed in Paktika and dozens of people are believed trapped under the rubble.

Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, gave no specific death toll but wrote on Twitter that hundreds of people were killed and injured in the earthquake, which shook four districts in Paktika.

We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe, he wrote.

In just one district of the neighboring Khost province, the earthquake killed at least 25 people and injured over 95 others, local officials said.

In Kabul, Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund convened an emergency meeting at the presidential palace to coordinate the relief effort for victims in Paktika and Khost.

The response is on its way, the U.N. resident coordinator in Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, wrote on Twitter.

Some remote areas of Pakistan saw reports of damage to homes near the Afghan border, but it wasn’t immediately clear if that was due to rain or the earthquake, said Taimoor Khan, a disaster management spokesperson in the area.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in a statement offered his condolences over the earthquake, saying his nation will provide help to the Afghan people.

The European seismological agency, EMSC, said the earthquake’s tremors were felt over 500 kilometers (310 miles) by 119 million people across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Mountainous Afghanistan and the larger region of South Asia along the Hindu Kush mountains has long been vulnerable to devastating earthquakes.

In 2015, a major earthquake that struck the country’s northeast killed over 200 people in Afghanistan and neighboring northern Pakistan. A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in 2002 killed about 1,000 people in northern Afghanistan. And in 1998, another earthquake of the same strength and subsequent tremors in Afghanistan’s remote northeast killed at least 4,500 people.

Snow, rains cause flash floods in J&K

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June 22, 2022

Widespread moderate to heavy rains have lashed Jammu and Kashmir over the past 24 hours causing flash floods that have washed away culverts and roads across the union territory.

Parts of the Valley also received snowfall including at the Baltal Base Camp near Amarnath cave, Kausarnag in Kulgam, Gurez in Bandipora district causing hardship to people living in these regions.

In view of the inclement weather and continuous rains that may cause floods, the district administrations in have established helplines for any kind of emergency arising.

Schools in various Kashmir districts have been shut from primary to higher classes for the day.

Srinagar and its adjoining areas received heavy rain in the past 24 hours since Tuesday inundating many low lying areas and roads causing trouble to commuters.

It was also the coldest day on Tuesday here in the month of June in the past 48-years, an independent Kashmir weather observatory said.

Meteorological department has forecast light to moderate rain to continue till Wednesday forenoon. From Thursday onward there is no major rainfall forecast for the next one week.Srinagar received 57.8mm of rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30 am Wednesday, Qazigund (75.2), Pahlgam (46), Kukernag (45.2), Kupwara (34.8) and Gulmarg (69.6).

There was snowfall at the Baltal base camp for Amarnath, besides Kausarnag, Gurez Valley and Pir Panjal range on Wednesday causing steep dip in mercury.

Continuous moderate to heavy rains since past few days caused landslide, flash floods at many places in the hills. A road stretch at Heff bride in Achan Pulwama washed away in flash flood. A foot bridge connecting Alyalpora to Nagbal in Shopian district of south Kashmir was also washed away.

In Kashmir, district authorities advised people not to venture close to water bodies. They have also been advised against going for any kind of work near ‘nallas’ or drains along the slopes.

NIA conducts fresh raids in Jammu and Kashmir

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June 22, 2022

National Investigation Agency is carrying raids at multiple places in Kashmir Valley, officials said on Wednesday.

Official sources told that NIA sleuths with the assistance of police and CRPF are carrying out raids in connection with a case related to militancy in south Kashmir districts of Pulwama and Kulgam besides central Kashmir’s Srinagar and Ganderbal districts. However specific details were awaited.

255 killed, several injured in Earthquake

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editor

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June 22, 2022

An earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing at least 255 people, authorities said.

Information remained scarce on the magnitude 6 temblor that struck Paktika province, but it comes as the international community largely has left Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover of the country last year amid the chaotic withdrawal of the US military from the longest war in its history.

That likely will complicate any relief efforts for this country of 38 million people.
The state-run Bakhtar news agency reported the death toll and said rescuers were arriving by helicopter. The news agency’s director-general, Abdul Wahid Rayan, wrote on Twitter that 90 houses have been destroyed in Paktika and dozens of people are believed trapped under the rubble.

“A severe earthquake shook four districts of Paktika province, killing and injuring hundreds of our countrymen and destroying dozens of houses,” Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, separately wrote on Twitter. “We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe.”

Neighbouring Pakistan’s Meteorological Department put the earthquake at a magnitude 6.1. Tremors were felt in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and elsewhere in the eastern Punjab province.

The European seismological agency, EMSC, said the earthquake’s tremors were felt over 500 kilometres (310 miles) by 119 million people across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Incessant rains: Truck plunges into rivulet in J&K

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editor

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June 22, 2022

A driver and conductor miraculously escaped unhurt after a truck, on way from Srinagar to Bandipora, rolled down into Baedkul nullah in Ajas village of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Wednesday.

Report said that the cement laden truck skidded off the diversion constructed on either side of the newly constructed Ajas bridge, and fell into the after driver lost control over the vehicle.

Locals, present on the spot, immediately swung into action and rescued the duo, who miraculously did not suffer any injury. Both the driver and conductor are safe.

A police official said the cognizance of the accident has been taken and investigation about the incident set into motion.

Five people rescued from flash floods in Jammu

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June 22, 2022

Five people were trapped in flash floods in River Ans in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district on Wednesday and rescued by SDRF personnel, officials said.

On receiving information that some people were trapped, a team of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel rushed to the spot and carried out the rescue operation.

Water level in all the major and minor rivers and tributaries in Jammu and Kashmir rose sharply on Wednesday due to incessant rainfall during the last 48 hours as authorities closed schools in six districts to avoid any mishap.

Schools Closed In 6 Districts Due To Heavy Rain in J&K

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June 22, 2022

Authorities in Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Kupwara, Baramulla and Ramban districts on Wednesday ordered suspension of class work in schools in the districts.

“In view of very heavy rains in Anantnag district, class work in all primary , ordered middle and High schools of district shall remain suspended today,” Deputy Commissioner Anantnag Dr. Piyush Singla said.

District Administration Kupwara also announced decision to suspend classwork in primary, middle and high schools across the north Kashmir district as a “precautionary measure” amid incessant rains.

Chief Education Officer Shopian said that due to prevailing bad weather conditions, classwork upto class 8th shall remain suspended in all the government and Private Educational Institutions of district.

District administration Ramban also tweeted: “In view of heavy rains and overflowing of nallahs at several places across Ramban District, all Primary, Middle & High Schools shall remain closed today. Orders will be issued separately.” Similar order has been issued by district administration Kulgam.

CEO Baramulla also ordered that class work in all Primary, Middle and High Schools shall remain suspended in view of incessant rainfall in the north Kashmir district.

Schools Closed In 6 Districts Due To Heavy Rain in J&K

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editor

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June 22, 2022

Authorities in Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Kupwara, Baramulla and Ramban districts on Wednesday ordered suspension of class work in schools in the districts.

“In view of very heavy rains in Anantnag district, class work in all primary , ordered middle and High schools of district shall remain suspended today,” Deputy Commissioner Anantnag Dr. Piyush Singla said.

District Administration Kupwara also announced decision to suspend classwork in primary, middle and high schools across the north Kashmir district as a “precautionary measure” amid incessant rains.

Chief Education Officer Shopian said that due to prevailing bad weather conditions, classwork upto class 8th shall remain suspended in all the government and Private Educational Institutions of district.

District administration Ramban also tweeted: “In view of heavy rains and overflowing of nallahs at several places across Ramban District, all Primary, Middle & High Schools shall remain closed today. Orders will be issued separately.” Similar order has been issued by district administration Kulgam.

CEO Baramulla also ordered that class work in all Primary, Middle and High Schools shall remain suspended in view of incessant rainfall in the north Kashmir district.

19-year-old youth kills self, family says was upset over Agnipath scheme

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June 22, 2022

A 19-year-old youth ended his life in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu, with his family claiming that he was depressed over the Centre’s Agnipath scheme.

The scheme for the recruitment of the youth aged between 17 and a half and 21 in the armed forces for a four-year term on contractual basis was unveiled last week, triggering protests across the country.

Police said Ankit’s uncle Lekhraj in a complaint alleged that he was preparing for a competitive exam and was in distress after the government announced the scheme. The victim’s uncle told police that Ankit hanged himself at his rented accommodation in Chidwawa.

“We have sealed the room where Ankit was living. So far, no suicide note has been recovered. We have also come to know that he had some dispute with his sister living in Chidawa. The matter is being investigated,” SHO Inderprakash Yadav said.

The SHO said the body was handed over to family members after conducting a post-mortem.