Srinagar, July 22: Intermittent rains lashed plains in Kashmir while upper reaches witnessed untimely light snowfall since Wednesday night, bringing respite to people from the sweltering heat wave that had gripped the Valley for the past many days. The temperatures dropped sharply forcing people to wear woolen clothes in peak summers.
According to the Meteorological Department here, western disturbances were active over Jammu and Kashmir.
“The interaction of the western disturbances (in Kashmir) with the monsoon current (in Jammu) resulted in the rainfall. It has also resulted in the snowfall in the upper reaches, mainly above 4500 mts above sea level,” Director, Meteorological Department, Sonam Lotus told Greater Kashmir.
Srinagar received 23mm rainfall in the past 24 hours. The rains resulted in a sharp dip in the day temperatures which were hovering around 35 degrees Celsius over the past week. The maximum temperature recorded in Srinagar was 21.7 degrees while minimum was recorded at 14.8 degrees Celsius. The weatherman has forecast cloudy sky with heavy rain and thundershowers at isolated places in the Valley on Friday. “There is also a possibility of snowfall in upper reaches of Valley,” a met official said.
The skies may get cleared and the sunshine may be back over the weekend, he added.
Officials of the Agriculture Department said that rains didn’t cause any damage to crops anywhere. “There are no reports of the crop damage anywhere as the rainfall was moderate. However, if rains continue it may cause damage to crops,” they said.
Pertinently, heavy rains and hailstorm in May had damaged crops, mainly orchards, in many parts of north Kashmir.
Meanwhile, reports said the Jammu-Pathankot highway was blocked due to flash floods triggered by heavy rains in Kathua district stranding over 1,000 vehicles.
Heavy rains lashed Jammu region triggering flash floods in several canals and river Ujh in Hiranagar and Kathua belt of the district, officials said.
The Jammu-Pathankot highway was blocked due to water-logging at Hiranagar and Jasrota villages this morning due to which over 1,000 vehicles have been stranded, they said.
Meanwhile, alert has been sounded in the downstream areas along Chenab and Tawi Rivers in Jammu in wake of rising water level in the twin streams following incessant rains that lashed the region since last 24 hours.
The water level in the Chenab has reached 2 points below the danger level, while the level in the river Tawi touched 20 ft mark, forcing the civil administration to send alert signals to the low lying villages.
According to a control room, set-up by the administration, the water level near Akhnoor at 4 pm on Thursday was recorded at 30.6 ft, which is only 2 ft below the alert level.
Keeping in view the rising water level, flood control department has been sending repeated warnings to the villages along the river front to remain vigilant and not go close to the banks of Tawi and Chenab.
Yesterday the water level in Chenab touched the 30 ft mark after which the officials had intensified the manual vigil to collect hour by hour data.
Meanwhile, river Tawi also experienced flood in the morning with the water level touching 20 ft mark following which authorities sounded an alert in the Makwal, Suhanjna and other low lying island villages along the river.
An official from the department said they are monitoring the situation and adequate steps have been taken to deal with any eventuality. “At the moment the water level is still below the danger mark, but we are taking no chances and have geared up to deal with the flood situation”, said an official.

AMARNATH YATRA SUSPENDED
In the wake of inclement weather, the annual Amarnath yatra was Thursday suspended.
Official sources said the pilgrimage was suspended on the Pahalgam route in Islamabad district and Baltal route in Ganderbal district after heavy rains rendered the tracks “unsafe”.”No pilgrim was allowed to move from the base camps in Nunwan along Pahalgam route and Baltal this morning,” they said, adding over 5,000 pilgrims had reached the base camps from Jammu last evening.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST