Srinagar/Bandipora: A cloudburst occurred near the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas on Wednesday, but there was no loss of life in the incident, officials said.
The incident occurred in the afternoon, leading to shooting stones which caused damage to some tents, the officials said.
However, there was no loss of life in the incident, they said.
An official press release said due to cloudburst in higher reaches, there were gusts of water near the holy Amarnath Shrine and the stream (nallah) adjoining the Holy Cave started flowing heavily.
The joint team of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, Police and Army acting swiftly, evacuated all the staff present close to the stream. No loss of human lives or property is reported.
As per the latest report, the Holy Cave shrine is safe. Home Minister Shri Amit Shah also spoke to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha who briefed him about the present situation and efforts made by the joint team of officials, police and Army.
“The situation is under control and the flow of water in the nallah is normal. A team of SDRF is camping at Baltal and on stand-by to meet future challenges. An NDRF team is also on stand-by in Srinagar to tackle natural calamities due to incessant rain in the region. The SASB and the administration are closely monitoring the situation,” LG said
Meanwhile, a residential house and a mosque were partially damaged while a footbridge was washed away after heavy rains coupled with a possible cloudburst in the upper reaches triggered flash flood in Aloosa area in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Wednesday, officials said.
The flashflood also caused significant damage to fruit orchards and paddy fields in the area even as officials said there was no loss of life or injury in the incident so far.
The locals from Aloosa village said that the streams and rivulets in the area were flooded causing the water to enter into several residential houses and paddy fields.
The heavy discharge also flooded Zaingeer Canal damaging its banks at several places, officials said.
In the uphill village of Chachinar, the flashflood as per reports partially damaged a mosque and a residential house while a footbridge was washed away.
Tehsildar Aloosa, Sheikh Tariq said that there was no report of any injury or loss of life due to the heavy discharge of water so far.
He said the Zaingeer canal had a huge discharge due to heavy rains which lasted for almost an hour even as a possibility of cloud burst high in the mountains couldn’t be ruled out.
Locals said that the under-construction footbridges also added to the overflowing of waters as the canal was blocked to allow smooth passage of the gushing waters.
Officials said that the damage to the property was being assessed and that situation was under control as the water has receded.
