Kathua cloudburst: Mud and debris choke roads, vehicles submerged (Credit: PTI)
J&K’s Kathua district witnessed incessant rainfall fall leaving houses, roads flooded and vehicles half-submerged. The downpour triggered a cloudburst, leading to overnight rainfall which claimed seven lives.Visuals emerging on social media show Kathua police station inundated as floodwaters swept across the region.Officials said the heavy downpour triggered a sharp rise in water levels across several water bodies, with the Ujh river flowing close to the danger mark.A joint team of police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) rushed to the affected sites to carry out rescue operations.The calamity struck Jodh Ghati village of Rajbagh and Janglote amid heavy rains during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. At least seven people were killed and several others were injured. Five people lost their lives in Jodh Ghati following a cloudburst, while two others were killed in a rain-triggered landslide at Janglote.Jammu Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar told PTI, “Heavy rain happened in Kathua in the night, because of it, a flash flood happened, due to a landslide at few houses, seven people have died so far. Evacuation is being done by SDRF, Army, J&K Police, and civil administration. Injured have been evacuated… It happened in Janglot area.”Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha expressed anguish over the loss of lives in the incidents. He said Union Home Minister Amit Shah had been briefed on the situation and ongoing rescue work.Kathua tragedy came just days after another devastating cloudburst in Chisoti village of Kishtwar district on August 14, which killed at least 60 people and left more than 100 injured.