Jammu rain fury: Railways cancel 22 trains; rivers flow above danger mark; thousands evacuated

The Northern Railway has cancelled 22 trains halting at or departing from Jammu and Katra railway stations as heavy rains continued to batter the region, flooding several low-lying areas.

The Railways have also short-terminated 27 trains in view of the prevailing weather conditions.

Of the 22 cancelled, nine trains are from Katra, the base camp of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, and one from Jammu. The remaining trains were scheduled to arrive at Katra, Jammu and Udhampur stations, the Railways said.

Train services have also been suspended from Pathankot to Kandrori in Himachal Pradesh due to heavy soil erosion and flash floods at the Chakki River.

Twenty-seven trains were short-terminated at Firozpur, Manda and Chak Rakhwalan, and Pathankot stations.

Jammu region is witnessing its heaviest rainfall in decades, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people from flooded areas to safer places. Jammu city has recorded more than 250 mm of rainfall in less than a day.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the region is struggling with almost nonexistent communication.

"Still struggling with almost nonexistent communication. There is a trickle of data flowing on Jio mobile, but no fixed line WiFi, no browsing, almost no apps, things like X open frustratingly slowly, WhatsApp struggles with anything more than short text messages. Haven't felt this disconnected since the terrible days of 2014 & 2019," he said in a post on X.

A rescue operation is still underway along the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine route near Adhkuwari, where a landslide struck on Tuesday, killing nine pilgrims and injuring 21 others.

In the Margi area of Kishtwar district, 10 residential houses and a bridge were washed away in a flash flood.

Officials said all water bodies in the region, including Tawi, Chenab, Ujh, Ravi and Basanter, are flowing several feet above the danger level.

“It has been raining incessantly here for the last 36 hours. Due to this, the water level has risen in all the rivers, and they are flowing at the danger mark. As a precautionary measure, I spoke with the School Education Director yesterday and he issued an order to close schools...Our field staff are on the ground and alerting people," said Kathua DC Rajesh Sharma.

According to reports, a road near the Fourth Tawi Bridge was washed away on Tuesday, disrupting normal life across the region.