Heavy rains in Jammu; Flood alert raised

Two minor girls were washed away in flash floods triggered by heavy rains in Jammu today where several areas have been submerged. Authorities sent out a flood alert in river Tawi.

At around 10.30 AM today two girls-9-year-old Menakshi, a class IV student and seven-year old Shakshi Sharma were washed away in flash floods in a nallah in Janipura belt of Jammu city, Deputy Commissioner Jammu Simrandeep Singh said.

The bodies have been recovered and kept in mortuary at GMC hospital, he said, adding a relief of Rs four lakh ex-gratia each has been announced for families of the deceased.

Singh said heavy rains since last night have caused floods in various areas of Jammu and damages to the public and private properties were reported in several areas. Jammu experienced the highest rainfall of this year as 157 mm rainfall was recorded till 8.30 AM today, the deputy commissioner said.

A flood alert in river Tawi has been sounded, he said, adding water level in the river at Udhampur is above danger level and it is likely to swell in Jammu as well by 4 PM. Singh said the entire staff of Flood and Irrigation Control Department has been alerted.

Meanwhile, heavy traffic snarls were witnessed at Canal road-Jewel chowk and Akhnoor road-Bakshinagar areas and it took hours for the authorities to streamline the traffic.