Gusty winds, cloudburst claim 4 lives in Kashmir

Srinagar: As gusty winds and hailstorm struck parts of Kashmir on Monday afternoon, three members of a non-local family were killed due to a cloudburst in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, while a woman died in a windstorm in Anantnag.

A cloudburst hit a family residing adjacent to a brick kiln in Budgam claiming three lives.

   

As per officials, the cloudburst struck at ‘Star-BDB-255’ Brick Kiln located at Chandapora area of Budgam killing the trio from a single family.

As soon as the incident happened, the victims were rushed to District Hospital Budgam in a critical condition.

Officials from District Hospital Budgam told Greater Kashmir that the slain trio was putting up in a make-shift shelter adjacent to a brick kiln when the cloud burst hit.

The hospital authorities identified the deceased as 45-year-old Bure Begum, 12-year-old Qais Mansori, and 21-year-old Muhammad Rayees Mansori. The deceased are the residents of Lalauri Khera village of Uttar Pradesh.

While speaking with Greater Kashmir, Dr Ayoub Khan, Medical Superintendent, District Hospital Budgam said that the trio was brought dead to the hospital.

“As per our information, the incident happened when the trio was staying in a makeshift shelter adjacent to a brick kiln. The trio were declared dead on arrival,” Khan said.

Meanwhile, a 30-year-old woman was killed after she came under a tin-sheet and a wooden log during gusty winds in Batengoo village of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. She was identified as Meenu Jan, wife of Khursheed Ahmad. An official said that heavy winds blew away tin sheets in the evening.

“Jan came under the sheet and a wooden log near Habkhatoon petrol pump along the old national highway at Batengoo and suffered grievous injuries,” an official said. She was shifted to GMC Anantnag where she succumbed to the injuries later.

A police officer said that a case has been registered into the incident. Meanwhile, the strong winds also uprooted several trees and blew off rooftops in the Srigufwara area of the Anantnag district.

“Over a dozen trees were uprooted in several villages of Srigufwara due to the strong winds,” an official said. He said many residential houses and cowsheds were also damaged.

Ganderbal

Strong winds on Monday afternoon damaged a residential house in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. Gusty winds blew up the roof of a residential house in Wayil area of Ganderbal district.

However, there was no inmate injured in the incident. Meanwhile, a 25-year-old woman was injured after strong winds damaged the roof top of a guard room of Ziyarat Shah Sadiq Qalandar Lar in Ganderbal district.

The woman was identified as Shakeela Bano, wife of Firdous Ahmad Mir, resident of Lar. The injured was shifted to PHC Lar where from she was referred to SKIMS Soura for further treatment.

Baramulla

At least two vehicles were damaged while the roofs of several structures were blown off following an intense windstorm that struck across north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Monday afternoon. Electricity supply was also affected at many places as scores of trees were uprooted causing severe damage to power infrastructure.

An official said that while no one was injured in the windstorm, its intensity was so high that scores of trees were uprooted besides the roofs of several structures.

“The rooftop of several structures had been damaged. While several trees in Sopore and its adjoining villages had been uprooted by the gusty wind. We have constituted a team of revenue officials to assess the damage,” said Manzoor Ahmad, Tehsildar Sopore.

In Ningli area of Sopore, the rooftop of a masjid was blown off following the intense windstorm in the area. The masjid was partially damaged in the incident.

In Sangrama area of Baramulla district, several trees on the Baramulla-Srinagar highway were uprooted following the wind storm. The incident caused brief traffic disruption.

In Pattan area of Baramulla district, two vehicles suffered intense damage after a tree fell on the parked vehicles.

Both the vehicles were damaged in the incident. However, there was no loss or injury to any life as both the cars were without occupants at the time of incident.

Meanwhile, following the windstorm, the electricity supply has been badly affected across the Baramulla district. The officials of the PDD department said that field staff is working in the field and it will take some time to restore the electricity.

“The distribution lines had been damaged at various places besides various electric poles had suffered damage following the windstorm. The field staff is working tirelessly in the field and electricity will be restored soon,” said Mumtaz Ahmad, Superintending Engineer, North Circle.

Bandipora

Gusty winds on Monday wreaked havoc in different parts of this north Kashmir district too. The reports from the eyewitnesses reaching Greater Kashmir said that rooftops and trees were uprooted when fast winds started blowing in the afternoon.

The people from various areas said that tin sheets blew away and landed on the roads blocking them temporarily. In a video shared by the witnesses a large pileup of tin sheets and other wreckage could be seen scattered on the road near Patushahi which was later cleared by the locals to allow the traffic to pass. In some places, trees got uprooted due to strong winds while rooftops of a few houses also blew away.

“The tin sheets covering our lawn were blown away,” Muhammad Sayid, a local from Bandipora town said. Moreover, as per the locals, the tin roof of a mosque and a house was damaged by the winds. The locals said the winds mostly impacted the northern part of the district Bandipora division which neighbours Baramulla district’s Sopore town.

The winds also disrupted the electricity supply at some places as transmission lines got damaged due to electric poles getting tilted and trees falling over the supply lines.

The reports said that the gusty winds were followed by rainstorms and at certain places, the district witnessed hailstorms too. However, as per the locals, there were no major disruptions due to the gusty winds as normal activities resumed soon after the spell. Officials at different departments said they were making assessment of damages if any in the areas affected by winds and hail.

Jammu

The temperature on Monday dropped in Jammu following with the blowing of strong winds and rainfall with thunderstorms. As the temperature was soaring above 38.9 degree Celsius, the hot weather conditions had made normal life unbearable.

However, during the evening hours the strong winds started blowing with thunders which brought down the temperature following rainfall. It was a much needed respite for the people of Jammu who were facing hot and dry weather conditions.

( With inputs from Altaf Baba in Baramulla, Owais Farooqi in Bandipora, Irfan Raina in Ganderbal, Syed Amjad Shah in Jammu and Khalid Gul in Anantnag)

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