Death toll at 17, Jhelum levels recede at Sangam

Seven months after witnessing devastating floods, Jammu and Kashmir is again in the grip of panic as several areas of the Valley and parts of Jammu were submerged following incessant rains. Seventeen deaths have been reported so far with thousands forced to flee to safer places as rain-fed streams rushed down the mountains, flooding parts of the state capital.

Here are the live updates:

8:30 am: Massive operations have been launched by the state irrigation and fire department in Srinagar to pump out water.

8:00 am: The water level of Jhelum river, which had touched the flood levels at Sangam and Ram Munshi Bagh, is showing a declining or static trend.

7:30 am: In a relief for the J&K people, no fresh rainfall was reported on Monday night.

The process to evacuate affected people was underway as eight teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were rushed to Kashmir. Armed forces, along with four helicopters, have been placed in readiness for deployment at a short notice after local authorities declared a flood situation in the Valley.

Promising all help, the central government granted Rs 200 crore as immediate relief as Prime Minister Narendra Modi rushed minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to Kashmir for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation and coordinate with state authorities with regard to the requirements.

In Srinagar, a worried Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed on Monday visited the water-logged city centre Lal Chowk and interacted with traders and common people.

He assured the traders that the government would take up on priority basis providing relief to businessmen who suffered in 2014.

Sayeed announced Rs 25 crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the worst hit Kashmir Valley and Rs 10 crore for Jammu region.

Over 280 people had died and tens of thousands left homeless and property worth hundreds of crores damaged in unprecedented floods in the state in September last year.

More than 320 families have been moved to safer places in Kashmir valley as water level in river Jhelum was still above the flood level.

Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi visited the Kashmir Valley and promised government assistance to people to tide over the crisis.

Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deputed and four other teams are on stand-by.