At least two fresh cloudburst incidents were reported in Jammu and Kashmir, while another occurred in Ladakh’s Drass region between Saturday and Sunday.
One of the cloudbursts was reported in central Kashmir’s Nasrallah Pora in the Budgam district, where residential areas were inundated due to flood water.
Though there was no loss of life reported in the incident, residents claimed some houses and other structures suffered damages in the aftermath of the weather-induced disaster.
Besides, another was reported in the Minamarg area of Drass on Saturday, triggering flash floods and landslides that damaged temporary shelters of nomadic Bakerwal families and led to the suspension of traffic on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a seven-year-old boy was killed after being buried in a landslide in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, officials said.
The deceased was identified as Rehan Ahmad Dar, a nursery student of Frontline Model School in the Mawer area.
The continued rainfall has caused massive infrastructure damage and loss of lives in Jammu and Kashmir since mid-July, when the monsoon hit the region after an intense heatwave spell.
So far, around 31 people have lost their lives in weather-related incidents, while infrastructure damages worth hundreds of crores have been reported throughout the union territory.
Rainfall has wreaked havoc, especially in the Jammu division, with almost all the fatalities occurring in three districts, including Poonch, Rajouri and Doda.
Seven people are still missing, while the search to trace them has already entered its second week.
According to recent government data, as many as “15,000 houses and structures were damaged in floods and cloudbursts, with Rs 5,246.47 lakh” paid as compensation for housing loss alone.
By Waseem Ahmad Ganie
Follow us
