At least seven people were killed and six others injured after flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall swept through Ghati village and nearby areas in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district early Sunday, reported PTI.
The incident occurred between 3.30 am and 4 am, snapping access to the remote Ghati village in the Rajbagh area. Inspector Ajay Singh from the Rajbagh police station told reporters, “Advance parties have reached the area.”
Rescue teams comprising the police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached Ghati after extensive efforts and joined locals in search and relief operations. “Bodies of four persons were recovered while six were rescued in an injured condition,” officials told PTI.
A family was also feared trapped under debris after a landslide struck Juthana Jod near Ghati around the same time as the floods.
District police chief Shobhit Saxena confirmed the casualties, clarifying that the incident was due to flash floods rather than a cloudburst. “There was no cloudburst, but there were flash floods. We have also informed the army; they are on a standby,” Saxena said.
Heavy rain over the past few days had caused water levels in the Sahar Khad and Ujh rivers to rise sharply, officials told Hindustan Times. It was the Ujh river that swelled dangerously and unleashed flash floods on Sunday, they added.
The situation also led to waterlogging in several parts of Kathua, including an industrial area, a Kendriya Vidyalaya campus, and the police station at Janglote. Water entered the police station at Kathua as well, while railway tracks and roads in the region were affected.
Union minister Jitendra Singh wrote on X that “the civilian Administration, Military and Paramilitary has swung into action. The situation being continuously monitored.”
Elsewhere in the district, landslides hit Bagard and Changda villages under Kathua police station and Dilwan-Hutli under Lakhanpur police station, though no major damage was reported, PTI said.
The disaster comes just days after a similar tragedy in Kishtwar district, where at least 60 people — most of them pilgrims — were killed in flash floods on the Machail Mata Yatra route at Chasoti village on Thursday. Rescue operations there are being spearheaded by the Indian Army, supported by the NDRF, SDRF, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), police, and the local administration.
Major General APS Bal told ANI, “We are also providing relief to the local people who have suffered due to this disaster.”
Kathua lies in the southern corner of Jammu and Kashmir, bordering Punjab, while Kishtwar is located further northeast, next to Himachal Pradesh.
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