Kashmir again receives rainfall but no flood worries

Srinagar, Apr 1: After two days of dry weather, Kashmir today received rainfall again but the flood worries decreased as water level in river Jhelumm continued to recede.

The state's summer capital Srinagar, which was devastated by floods in September last year, received 7.2 mm of rainfall till 2.30 pm today, an official of the MET department said.

South Kashmir also recorded about the same amount of downpour while Kupwara in north Kashmir received 12.4 mm rainfall since this morning, the official said.

However, the water level in Jhelum, which was above danger mark on Monday, continued to recede for the second consecutive day.

The river was flowing at 10.85 feet at Sangam in south Kashmir, way below the danger mark of 21 feet while the level at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar was 14.80 feet against the flood level of 19 feet, a police official said.

"The water level has decreased considerably since yesterday morning and there is no imminent threat of flood now in Kashmir," the official said.

He, however, said the rainfall, which began last night and is expected to continue for next two days, can again cause surge in the water of level of Jhelum and its tributaries.

"All the contingency plans are in place... temporary shelters have been set up for people evacuated from flood prone areas," he said.

The official said NDRF and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been put on a stand by to meet any eventuality.

PTI