Rain lashes Jammu, brings relief from heat

Jammu, May 24

In a respite from heatwave conditions, heavy rain lashed various areas of the Jammu region on Wednesday, bringing down the temperature.

The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was blocked for a brief period due to landslides triggered by heavy rain in Ramban district.

Various parts of Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Udhampur, Rajouri and Reasi districts also witnessed rain, officials said. A hailstorm hit the Cheddi area in Udhampur district, causing damage to crops, they said. Flash floods were triggered in some areas of the hilly belts of Rajouri and Ramban, the officials said.

Heavy rain lashed Jammu city also, leading to a dip in temperature.

Meanwhile, a woman was feared drowned while three persons trapped in flash floods were rescued as heavy rain led to a sudden rise in water bodies in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri on Wednesday.

Naseema Akhtar and Kulzum Bi were swept away while crossing the Betar stream in Poonch district late afternoon on Wednesday, the officials said. They said while Akhtar was rescued by a joint team of the police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Kulzum Bi (28) remained untraced.

A rescue operation is on to trace her, the official said, adding they were trapped by the sudden rise in the water level.

In Rajouri district, two men — Ankush Kumar of Rajouri and Sunil Kumar of Punjab — were rescued by a joint team of police and the SDRF in an hour-long operation after they were found trapped in flash floods in Darhali river near the Tariq bridge.