Owais Gul
Srinagar, Feb 28 : The ongoing 4-day wet spell compensated the precipitation deficiency in Jammu and Kashmir by 50 percent, and also led to the increase in the water level of River Jhelum, life line of Kashmir, and other water bodies by 3-4 feet.
According to the details provided by the Meteorological Centre Srinagar to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), “The current wet spell has brought the deficit from 80% to nearly 42%. As per the cumulative precipitation during February 25-28, the highest snow depth of 113 cms has been recorded at famous ski-resort, Gulmarg followed by Sonamarg with 75 cm.”
In North Kashmir Kupwara and Bandipora districts recorded a rainfall of 79.33 mm and 81.4 mm respectively, while in South Kashmir, Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama districts recorded a rainfall of 49.6 mm, 60 mm, 26.8 mm and 31.7 mm respectively.
Srinagar recorded 30.5mm precipitation during the last 24 hours while Batote recorded the rainfall of 163.7 mm, highest in all the districts, followed by 118mm in Katra and 100 mm in Banihal.
With the deficiency reducing to 42 per cent only from January 01, 2025 to February 28, 2025, the lowest deficit at present is recorded in Kulgam with 69 per cent and followed by Shopian and Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir at 64 per cent each.
The lowest deficiency has been recorded in Rajouri and Udhampur at just 3 and 4 per cent respectively till today. Samba, as per the details is the only station across Jammu and Kashmir with average normal precipitation as against the normal rainfall of 91.6 mm, the district has received 91.5 mm till today.
Water level in Jhelum increases
Moreover, for the first time in the past three months, the river Jhelum has recorded a rise in water level by almost 3-4 feet.
From -1.01 ft till February 25, the water level at Sangam station was recorded 2.31 ft at 7:01 PM while at Ram Munshi Bagh, the water was flowing at 4.75 ft. The other streams too have recorded the rise in water level including Vishow Nallah where the 1589.6 m gauge was recorded this evening while Lidder was flowing at 1954.2 m and Doodhganga at 1585.3 m.
JAMMU RIVERS NEAR FLOOD ALERT LEVEL
An Independent Weather Forecaster, Faizan Arif Keng in a statement has mentioned that following heavy rainfall in Jammu region, the water levels of the Tawi River, along with other rivers and streams, have risen significantly, now just a few feet below the alert level. “Residents are advised to exercise caution and refrain from going near the rivers until conditions improve,” he said.
Pertinently, the weatherman had predicted a four-day wet spell from February 25 to February 28 while ‘yellow and orange’ alerts were also issued for the four days.
For the next three days till March 03, the weatherman here has predicted light rain and snow at isolated to scattered places—(KNO)
