Flood alert in Kashmir - Calcutta Telegraph

Srinagar, March 29: Kashmir appeared to be on the brink of another flood today as water levels fed by pounding rain surged menacingly in streams, lakes and the Jhelum, forcing authorities to evacuate hundreds in an ominous reminder of last year's deluge.

Late this evening, the Srinagar administration sounded a flood alert after the water level in the Jhelum, the Valley's only river, crossed 16ft at Ram Munshibagh.

Flood is declared once the level crosses 18ft.

Earlier in the day, officials had claimed there was no immediate threat of a flood and urged people not to panic.

Kashmir has experienced heavy snowfall and rain through much of March, which had left water levels high in streams and lakes. Although a brief spell of sunny weather had followed, the fresh spell of rain that started yesterday has sparked fear among residents, barely six months after the September floods - described as the century's worst - left 300 people dead.

Today, the weather office predicted more rain over the next six days.

This evening, before the Srinagar administration sounded the alert, deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh had told the Assembly at Jammu that the water level in the Jhelum had reached 15ft at Sangam in south Kashmir. At Ram Munshibagh, it stood at 14.5ft, against the alarm level of 16ft, he said.

Singh said chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who has rushed to Srinagar from Delhi to take stock of the situation, had issued instructions to set up three joint control rooms for south, north and central Kashmir and all agencies have been told to remain extra alert.

That, however, did little to calm the nerves of city residents. Many shopkeepers shifted their merchandise to safer areas in the city centre, where most shops had remained submerged for weeks during last year's flood.

Today, streets remained under nearly a foot of water.

Residents thronged shops to stock up on essentials while long queues of vehicles were seen outside petrol pumps.

Officials said at least 44 structures, including 18 houses, had been damaged in landslides triggered by heavy rain in Budgam. An official spokesperson said 221 families from 18 villages had been shifted in the central Kashmir district.