SRI NAGAR: Even as other parts of the country are reeling under intense heat wave conditions, the upper reaches of Kashmir on Wednesday witnessed fresh snowfall, while plains were lashed with rains resulting in a considerable dip in temperature.
Two women died and four others were injured after cloudbursts hit Chandaji and Pushwari villages in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. The victims were identified as Mubeena Bano and Shareefa.
Heavy rainfall led to flash floods in parts of Baramulla district in Jammu and Kashmir, while a storm in Bandipora district left two women dead, officials said Wednesday. Shareefa Begum (33) and Mubeena Bano (18) died after a tree fell on them during a storm at Chandaji in Bandipora district on Tuesday night, they said.
The upper reaches, including Sonamarg, Gurez and Affarwat Gulmarg in Kashmir and Zojila, Drass, Kargil and Zanskar in Ladakh, experienced snowfall on Wednesday.
Flash floods washed away a bridge in Arin village of Bandipora. Besides, several villages in the district, including Lowdara, Kulhama, Lankreshipora, Kunzpora and Gund Jahengeer, were inundated.
However, Sonam Lotus, director, meteorological department, said there is no threat of big flood in Kashmir.
A Met official said maximum temperature in Srinagar on Wednesday was recorded at 19.6°C and the minimum was at 10.5°C. On Tuesday, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 21.8°C and 13.7°C respectively.
Mukhtar Ahmed, deputy director, Met department, termed the snowfall in mid-June as unprecedented. He, however, said the weather would remain sunny for the next three days.
Water levels up
Due to incessant rains, the water level rose in river Jhelum and other water bodies in the Valley