Govt unaware what happened on Sep 6 night

The State government is still unaware on what happened on the night of September 6 when floods hit the heart of Kashmir valley.
Addressing a news conference here, Commissioner Secretary Flood Control, Pawan Kotwal said what happened in the intervening night of September 6 and 7 was not known yet.
Kotwal said on September 6 evening, the water level in Srinagar at Ram Munshi Bagh was 22 feet and the government expected that it would go upto 23 feet, which was manageable.
“Suddenly, water rose in the night,” the Commissioner Secretary Flood Control said.
Kashmir was hit by one of the worst floods in a century in which at least 281 people died while thousands were rendered homeless.
“We kept monitoring the water level and kept informing people to leave for a safer place,” Kotwal said. “On September 6 night there are evidences of a cloud burst and water in Kounsar Nag, Vaishav, Ranbiar Nallah and other streams rose suddenly.”
“Then the water came to Jhelum and what happened after is yet to be known,” he said. “Soon the entire city was submerged and water levels rose.”
The Commissioner Secretary Flood Control said Jhelum has a capacity of holding 35,000 cusecs of water and the flood channels a capacity of holding 15,000 cusecs.
“The flood brought double the capacity of water into the Jhelum and flood channels,” he said.
Kotwal said at Sangam the gauge records the water level upto the maximum of 33.6 feet.
“It was fully submerged and at one time the water level had gone beyond 38 feet while at Ram Munshi Bagh the water level had gone upto 40 feet,” he said.
The Commissioner Secretary Flood Control said that the State government had asked Government of India to send a team of international-level experts to look into the matter.
He said the government had also sought satellite images of how flood waters had rose to such levels during the intervening night of September 6 and 7.