Srinagar, Jul 24: After receding through most of the day, the River Jhelum recorded a fresh rise at key gauge stations on Friday evening, with the water level at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar remaining above the flood declaration mark, while officials maintained that the river is expected to follow an overall receding trend.
According to the gauge update issued by the Irrigation & Flood Control (I&FC) Department and accessed by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the water level at Ram Munshi Bagh stood at 18.96 feet and was on an increasing trend. The gauge remained above the flood declaration mark of 18 feet, but below the danger mark of 21 feet.
The Sangam gauge also registered a fresh increase, reaching 19.77 feet, while Pampore remained stable at 5.09 metres.
Further downstream, the river was rising at Asham, where the level reached 12.74 feet, while the Wular Lake level increased to 1576.10 metres. Both, remained below their respective flood declaration levels.
Among the tributaries, Vishow Nallah at Khudwani receded to 7.05 metres, Lidder Nallah at Batkoot fell to 0.96 metres, while Rambiyara Nallah at Wachi remained stable at 2.27 metres.
Earlier in the day, the I&FC Department had said that moderate to heavy rainfall over the southern catchment of the Jhelum basin during the morning led to a marginal rise in tributary levels, slowing the rate of recession at Sangam.
It had stated that the slowdown would also reflect at Ram Munshi Bagh over the following hours, but stressed that the river was still expected to maintain an overall receding trend.
The department said the situation is being closely monitored and urged people not to panic or pay heed to rumours circulating on social media or other unofficial sources. It advised the public to rely only on official updates, remain vigilant and cooperate with the administration.
Independent weather forecaster Faizan Arif Keng said intermittent rain is likely to continue in parts of Jammu and Kashmir through the night, with isolated heavy showers remaining possible.
He cautioned that intense spells of rain could trigger localised flash floods, landslides, shooting stones and a sudden rise in streams and nallahs, urging people to avoid vulnerable areas and follow official advisories. (KNO)
