Heavy rain pushes Jhelum up again

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 8

The water level of the Jhelum river, which had receded to an alarmingly low point, has begun rise as downpour in the recent days ended a long dry spell.

The river’s level on Sunday morning was recorded at 0.20 foot at Sangam in south Kashmir, an official of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department said. It is for the first time in the past one month that Jhelum’s water level at Sangam has risen up from the zero mark of the gauge.

The increase in the water level was recorded during the past two days as the region received one of the heaviest snowfall in recent years. The precipitation, which continued with varying intensity over the past two days, has begun to fill the river.

The south Kashmir districts, where the river has its origin, received significant downpour during the past two days. In Pahalgam, where a tributary of Jhelum originates, 45 mm rainfall was recorded in 48 hours on Friday and Saturday.

In Kukernag, the precipitation on Friday and Saturday was 62.8 mm while in Qazigund, the gateway town located in south Kashmir, 26.6 mm rainfall was received.

The river’s water level during the past one month had dropped 0.60 foot below the gauge’s zero point, which was the lowest in six decades. The unprecedented and alarming drop in the water level was caused by the lengthiest dry spell in four decades which continued from September last year to this month.

According to the statistics of Srinagar Meteorological Centre and India Meteorological Department, the precipitation during the past three months has been minimal across Kashmir.