Multiple avalanches took place in Ladakh today following unseasonal snowfall.
Highlights
- An Army picket in Ladakh's Batalik sector was buried in the avalanche
- Specially trained teams have been employed for the rescue op
- Jammu and Kashmir has received fresh snowfall in April
The unprecedented April snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir has triggered multiple avalanches, in which an army picket in Batalik sector in Ladakh got buried this afternoon. Five soldiers, who were deployed at the post, had got buried in the snow. Two of them have been rescued. A search is on for the three others, tweeted the Army's Northern Command.
Specially trained and equipped avalanche rescue teams have been employed, the Northern Command said.
Avalanche warnings were issued earlier today for parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh by the Chandigarh-based Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment. A part of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the SASE had said a high-danger avalanche warning was in place for Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir.
"A medium-danger avalanche warning is in place in slopes and areas of Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir," it said. The warning has been issued for the next 24 hours.
Jammu and Kashmir has received fresh snowfall, rare in the month of April. The residents of Srinagar had woken up to a white blanket across the city.
The administration has issued a flood alert in the Valley after the Jhelum river started flowing above the danger mark. Many low-lying areas have been flooded and there are concerns about the by-elections in Srinagar and Anantnag parliamentary constituencies, slated to be held on April 9 and 12.
A senior official of the Irrigation and Flood control Department, Mohammad Hanif Lone, told NDTV that the "Water level at Ram Munhsi Bagh in Srinagar has crossed 19 ft. 18.3 ft is the limit after which flood is declared".
Schools have been closed for five days and people living near the river banks have been asked to remain alert. The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was closed this morning due to landslides.