Cloudbursts batter Anantnag; 2 dead, bridges swept, towns submerged

Anantnag, Aug 27: An uncle and nephew died in Anantnag late Tuesday night after a high-tension electric line fell on them amid heavy rains, while flash floods and cloudbursts wreaked havoc across the district.

Police said the victims, identified as Irshad Ahmad Bhat of Lower Munda and his nephew Junaid Shafi Bhat of Moominabad, were loading merchandise from a shop near Achabal Adda around 11 pm when the power line collapsed on their truck.

They were rushed to the Government Medical College, Anantnag, where doctors declared them dead on arrival.

Their sudden death shocked their families, who had been waiting for their safe return home.

Both were laid to rest in their ancestral graveyards on Wednesday amid emotional scenes.

“They left home to earn bread, but returned as corpses,” a grieving relative said. “They worked hard all their lives. This is how fate treated them.”

Families, cut off by phone and internet outages, waited in shock for news that never brought hope. Meanwhile, torrential rains and a cloudburst in the upper reaches of Chatapal, Shangus, triggered the overflow of the Aaripat tributary, which discharges into the Jhelum at Khanabal.

The overflow caused heavy waterlogging in several low-lying neighbourhoods of Anantnag town, including Mehandikadal, Lal Chowk, Court Road, Danter, Bangidar, Ganjiwara, Achabal Adda, Janglat Mandi, and Deva Colony.

“Water seeped into shops and godowns, damaging merchandise worth lakhs,” said Tariq Ahmad, a hardware dealer whose store was submerged.

Shops around Court Road, including textiles and garment stores, also suffered losses.

Floodwaters even entered the District Court complex, damaging case records.

The unprecedented flooding brought judicial work to a halt as courtrooms, offices, and record rooms were inundated.

But Principal District Judge Tahir Khurshid Raina braved the waters, visiting the submerged premises to check on records.

“Raina had to reach the court by boat to pass urgent orders,” a lawyer said.

He issued urgent directions to the Police on remand cases and bail pleas.

“Access to justice cannot be denied even in a disaster,” Raina told Greater Kashmir. “Floods may have submerged the court, but justice must not sink.”

Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Feroz Ahmed Khan accompanied him.

The Sports Stadium was also inundated.

Authorities said nomadic families trapped by flash floods near Brengi Nallah in Bon Dialgam were rescued with the help of the Police administration and local volunteers.

Several other streams, spring outlets, and irrigation canals overflowed, further swelling water levels in the town.

“Several shops were also inundated in Dangerpora, Mattan Adda, and Kralyar due to water that overflowed from choked Nagbal spring outlets,” said Kausar Ahmad, a readymade store owner.

The overflowing Sandran stream originating from Veirnag also overflowed in low-lying areas, inundating the villages of Muniwars and Behram Shah in Anantnag.

In Pahalgam, cloudbursts washed away the Sakhras Bridge, cutting off more than 100 villages of Bijbehara’s apple belt from Mattan via Dachnipora.

Another bridge at Movera-Yanmar connecting the main Khanabal-Pahalgam (KP) Road to dozens of hotels and guesthouses was also swept away.

Near the Nunwan base camp, a popular selfie point suffered partial collapse after flash floods eroded its embankments.

At Vailoo in Kokernag, the Brengi Nallah overflowed but caused no reported damage.

However, in the low-lying belts of Khudwani, Qaimoh, and Tashloo, the Vaishaw River downstream inundated houses, forcing the Police and administration to evacuate families.

Unlike the 2014 floods, the Vaishaw Nalla, a major tributary of the River Jhelum, originating from Kausar Nag, Aharbal, Kulgam, recorded no major surge this time as the region was spared of fresh cloudbursts.

By Wednesday evening, waters had started to recede in Anantnag town as rainfall eased, but not before damaging shops and infrastructure worth lakhs of rupees.