Woman washed away in Kashmir flash floods, alert sounded

September 16th, 2011 - 10:09 pm ICT by IANS  

Srinagar, Sep 16 (IANS) A woman was washed away and many houses in south Kashmir were damaged Friday following flash floods caused by incessant rains since Thursday, officials said, adding an alert has been sounded.

The weather office has, however, forecast fair weather Saturday, dispelling fears of any impending floods in the Kashmir Valley and asking people not to panic.

“The gauges of Jhelum river touched danger level of 18 feet at Ram Munshibagh in Srinagar at 5 p.m. The chief engineer, irrigation and flood control, Kashmir, has sounded flood alert and directed all zonal flood committees to report for duty and establish their control rooms,” the statement said.

“However, with the improvement in weather, the situation is fast returning to normal and public has been asked not to panic,” the statement said.

The Kashmir divisional commissioner and inspector general of police (IGP) visited Tral town where the woman was swept away and the houses were damaged.

“The affected families were shifted to safer locations and provided temporary shelter and free rations,” a senior official said here.

Sonum Lotus, director of the local weather office, has dispelled the fears of any impending floods in the valley.

“The weather has already started showing signs of improvement since today afternoon. We are expecting fair weather from tomorrow (Saturday) onwards,” Lotus told IANS.

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