Rajouri, Oct 1: A woman and her daughter washed away in a flash-flood, triggered by heavy rains, in a rivulet in Chatyar village of Rajouri late Thursday night.
So far the body of one woman could be retrieved only in the search operation which was still underway.
Meanwhile, heavy rainfall, during the intervening night of September 30 and October 1, in most parts of Rajouri district impacted normal life. The vehicular traffic on several roads including Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch highway also
remained affected whereas the road between Moughla to Kurlina road was completely blocked by a landslide.
Officials informed that a mother-duo washed away in the flash floods triggered by heavy rains in Nowshera. The body of one of the deceased, identified as Gulzar Bi (55) wife of Mohammad Akbar, was retrieved.
However, the search operation to trace the body of her daughter, identified as Maqsood Bi (35), was still on.
Family members of the victims told Greater Kashmir that late Thursday night at around 11 PM, they all were returning from their grass land after cutting dry-grass. “While two members of the family crossed the rivulet, flash-flood hit the area when the mother-daughter duo was crossing it (rivulet). As the water level increased abruptly in the rivulet, both got washed away,” one of the members of the family, who had accompanied the duo, said.
He added that they raised the alarm soon after the incident and the villagers rushed to the spot. Rescue and search operation was launched during midnight but the missing women could not be traced.
“On Friday morning, the government teams also joined in and this noon, one body was found stuck in rocks in the rivulet downstream near Nowshera bridge, almost twenty kilometers from the incident site,” the family said, adding that there was no trace of the second woman so far.
Inspector Ashish Chowdhary, Police Post Incharge Chingus told Greater Kashmir that the teams of police, SDRF and locals were conducting an operation in the water body in the area. “The body of a woman was traced. However, the second woman is still missing and search operation is on,” he added.
“We’ve suspended the operation during night due to darkness. It will be resumed on Saturday morning yet again,” Inspector Ashish said.
Meanwhile, officials said that heavy rains late Thursday evening lashed most parts of Rajouri district which badly affected normal life. Most of the water bodies were overflowing due to overnight rains.
Due to rainfall, official reports revealed, vehicular traffic remained affected on many roads for hours. The traffic on Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch National Highway was also stopped after a landslide hit Totta Gali near Bhimber Gali, falling under the jurisdiction of Mendhar sub division.
Official reports said that vehicular traffic remained affected for around an hour on the highway after which men and machinery of GREF were pressed into service and the road was cleared for vehicular traffic.
“There are several other link roads in Rajouri district, especially those which are yet to be blacktopped, the vehicular traffic there is partially affected. On the other hand, the link road from Moughla to Kurlina in Kalakote sub division was also blocked due to a heavy landslide. Around half a dozen villages in the area were cut off from the rest of Union Territory,” officials added.
Locals from the area demanded the clearance of the slide from the road in order to restore the traffic.