Three killed, seven injured as rains wreak havoc across Jammu

Jammu: Three persons were killed and seven others were injured in house collapse triggered by the overnight rainfall in Jammu even as the pilgrimage to Amarnath cave shrine and Vaishno Devi shrine were suspended due to inclement weather.

In Doda district, Dost Mohammed and Saifuddin were killed and four others injured when their house collapsed while one person was killed in house collapse at Parladpur in Mandal belt.

In Kathua district, three persons were injured, one of them seriously, after two houses collapsed in the district.

The railway traffic on the Jammu-Udhampur railway line was affected as landslides blocked the railway track at several places near the Ramnagar station in the district.

"Landslides blocked the three tracks of Jammu-Udhampur railway lines. While one track has been cleared, work to clear the debris from the other two tracks are going on," a police officer said.

The pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Vaisho Devi was halted due to the landslides trigged by the continuous heavy rainfall as the death toll in yesterday?s landslide en route the cave shrine reached five.

The pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine situated in south Kashmir was also suspended due to heavy rainfall across the Jammu region.

Heavy rainfall trigged massive landslides that briefly blocked the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway that was later opened for vehicular traffic.

Reports of house collapse due to heavy rainfall are pouring in from other districts of Jammu region as well.

In Jammu, flood alert has been sounded following heavy rain as Tawi River continues to flow above the danger mark.

"Due to heavy rainfall, there are flash floods in the rivers in Jammu. Alert has been sounded," Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Simrandeep Singh said.

"The river Tawi is flowing at a danger level of 18-feet and river Chenab is flowing 33-feet above alert level," he added.

Water level in Ujj and Basntar rivers in Kathua and Samba districts of Jammu has also crossed the danger mark.

"Several low lying area have been submerged due to overflow of water in Ujj river in Kathua district," a police officer said.

Most parts of Jammu city have been without electricity for several hours following which people in Hazuribagh, Bohri, Muthi and Bantalab areas came out in protest.

"The Canal road grid and Janipur Grid have developed some snag due to which electricity supply has snapped," Chief Engineer Ashwani Kumar said.