SRINAGAR: Jhelum river on Monday crossed danger level in Srinagar and Sangam area of south Kashmir with heavy rains lashing most parts of the state which sounded an alert asking people to move to safer places.
A senior official said water level of river Jhelum at 6am at Sangam (South Kashmir) and Ram Munshi Bagh (Srinagar city) has touched 22′.4 feet and 18′.8 feet respectively. Danger level at Sangam is 21 feet and at Ram Munshi Bagh it is 18 feet.
People living on the banks of the river Jhelum have been asked to remain alert and advised to move to safer places. Old persons and children have also been asked to shift to specially set up camps, a government spokesman has said.
He said all the employees deployed for flood control have been asked to report for duty immediately.
If the water level breaches 23 feet mark, the state will have to undertake a massive rescue operations and evacuate people from areas adjoining the river.
The deputy commissioner of Srinagar had already issued a flood alert late on Sunday night after heavy rainfall in Kashmir over the past two days.
The rains began on Friday and the water level in the Jhelum rose steadily on Sunday, triggering alarm and reminding people of the catastrophic September 2014 floods in which 277 people were killed and lakhs of people displaced. Chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who was in Delhi, rushed to Srinagar to take stock of the situation on Sunday.
Deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh told the J&K assembly, “The administration is on full alert following heavy rains in the Valley and the situation is being monitored continuously.” The CM would personally monitor the situation, he added.
