J&K flash flood: Over 20 deaths, dozens missing in Poonch, Rajouri districts

Jammu: 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, bone-chilling reports of human suffering and infrastructure collapse came to light on Monday, with hundreds of fortunate civilians escaping death with a whisker.

L-G Manoj Sinha took stock of the situation on Sunday. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah chaired a meeting of senior officers in Jammu, directing every department to go all out to help the affected families.

Reports said right after he reached Jammu on Sunday and up to Monday morning, Omar Abdullah was receiving calls for half-hourly 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 times.

Ten 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 Sunday.

The 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 area.

About 45 people trapped in floods were rescued from Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch areas on Sunday. Due 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 snapped.

Official 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 morning.

While 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 missing. Three persons were injured in these incidents and were removed to the hospital. Reports said that at least four dozen houses and other structures/water mills, etc., were damaged due to a cloudburst/flash flood.

Dozens of the cattle of the affected villagers also perished in the flash floods in the Suran River and adjoining Nallahas.

A 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 missing. Three bodies of this family were later retrieved, while the remaining five bodies dumped under the debris were yet to be traced.

Another 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 said. A villager was washed away at Sanglani and another at Marhote in Surankote Sub Division.

The 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 injured.

He was removed to District Hospital Poonch and later referred to GMC Rajouri for advanced treatment. Officials said that the teams of civil, police administration, Army, locals, along with SDRF and other agencies are on the job to retrieve the missing bodies.

They 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 region.

Reports 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 daily-wage worker missing.

The 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 livestock.

The flash floods struck Rajouri town at around 2.45 a.m. on Sunday after heavy rainfall lashed Thannamandi, Darhal and the upper hilly areas.

The sudden rise in the water level of the Sukhto River and other seasonal streams inundated several low-lying localities, disrupting normal life across the district. Houses, shops, roads and public infrastructure suffered extensive damage, while many families were forced to evacuate to safer locations.

The district administration, along with the Army, SDRF, Police, Civil Defence and other rescue agencies, immediately launched large-scale rescue and relief operations in the affected areas.

Officials said a comprehensive assessment of the losses is underway, with all concerned departments compiling detailed reports on the damage. The worst-hit area was Bela Colony, where floodwaters breached the river protection wall and entered the New Bela Bus Stand and adjoining residential localities. Around 20 vehicles parked at the bus stand were swept away by the powerful currents, while nearly 40 other vehicles sustained severe damage.

Several commercial establishments, workshops and shops located behind Bela Colony were completely destroyed. The Bela Bus Stand was established a few years ago.

Eyewitnesses described the flood as one of the worst witnessed in Rajouri in recent decades, with vehicles carried away within minutes by the raging waters. They held past district administrations/ MCR responsible for establishing a bus stand and shopping complex on the riverbank and wasting huge public money.

They 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 administration.

The flood also devastated the slum settlements near Abdullah Bridge and Tariq Bridge. More than 50 families lost their homes after floodwaters submerged the settlements.

A woman, identified as Pinky Devi, lost her life after being swept away in the flood, and her body was later recovered by rescue teams.

Besides the tragic loss of life, several families lost livestock, household belongings and their lifetime savings, leaving them with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.

Bone-chilling stories of human beings virtually being snatched from the jaws of death by courageous Army soldiers, NDRF, SDRF, J&K Police and civilians continue to pour in from the affected areas as rain continues unabated in almost all districts of Jammu division and the Valley.

IANS