Cloudburst in J-K's Kulgam; several houses affected

Villages in the Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir were inundated after a cloudburst occurred in the district's upper reaches on Saturday.

No casualties have been reported so far, however further details are awaited.

There have been several incidents of cloudbursts in Jammu and Kashmir this year. On August 1, heavy rain and cloudburst triggered flash floods in Surankote town of Poonch district of the Union Territory, ahead of which the Indian Army and Police carried out the rescue operation.

In another incident of heavy rainfall, the new track to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop the Trikuta hills in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district was closed on July 28 as a precautionary measure and an alert was also issued as water in the Chenab river rose since a day before.

Earlier in the month of July, a cloudburst struck the holy cave area of Amarnath which resulted in a heavy discharge of water in the 'Nallah', adjoining the holy cave, following which the route to Amarnath was damaged, it the yatra was on halt for some time.

Four Mi-17V5 and four Cheetal helicopters of the Indian Air Force were also deployed for rescue and relief efforts at the Amarnath shrine.

The Yatra began on June 29, from Jammu amid tight security arrangements made by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) along with the army and the local police.

The Amarnath shrine pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Lord Shiva, located in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, is held from the twin routes of Pahalgam and Baltal.

( With inputs from ANI )

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