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| Monsoon Crisis Engulfs Jammu and Kashmir - Rivers Surge, Bridges Fail and Rail Links Suspend | | |  Prerna Bhat
The last week of August brought an abrupt and large-scale hydrological emergency to Jammu and large parts of north Kashmir. Intense cloudbursts and sustained heavy rain across the Himalayan catchments sent torrents of water racing downstream, rapidly elevating river and nala levels and turning streets into impassable channels. In urban and rural pockets alike families were forced from ground floors, markets were submerged, and a network of critical transport links- road, rail and bridges was either damaged or put out of service, disrupting movement of people, goods and rescue teams. The human cost is already measurable in fatalities and widespread displacement, while the logistical challenge of reaching isolated clusters remains substantial.
Water rose fast and with little warning. Residents in low-lying sectors reported that what began as ankle- or knee-deep nuisance water turned into strong, muddy flow within hours. Municipal drains, built for routine monsoon run-off, were overwhelmed when repeated cloudbursts in the hills sent sudden surges of runoff into the plains. Streets in many colonies filled with brown, debris-laden water that carried household items, garden debris and refuse, leaving a film of silt and broken material when levels began to fall. In several neighbourhoods families moved their possessions to higher floors, improvised on rooftops and waited for rescue boats. Rescue teams concentrated first on riverside localities and major arteries, a necessary prioritisation that left smaller lanes and interior pockets waiting for help.
A section of the approach to the Fourth Tawi Bridge was washed away by scouring river currents; Army engineers assembled a 110-foot bailey bridge within hours to restore emergency connectivity while permanent repairs are assessed.
Rail services across the division have been heavily disrupted: Northern Railway cancelled dozens of trains (around fifty or more services), short-terminated several others, and ran limited special trains to move stranded passengers : two special trains carried more than 1,200 people from Jammu on the most recent operations. Travelers should expect further cancellations until tracks and bridges are fully inspected and repaired.
Mountain districts (Ramban, Reasi, Doda, Kishtwar and parts of north Kashmir) experienced cloudbursts and landslides that cut highways, caused slope failures and led to multiple fatalities; official tallies for August place the month’s rain-related death toll in the region in triple digits, with fatalities continuing to be reported as rescue teams work.
Bhaderwah (Doda division) suffered flash flooding and local inundation of streets and villages; visual reports and local media show damaged houses and displaced residents in lower-lying hamlets, and authorities have moved people to safer locations while relief teams assess damage.
Near the NH44 corridor and Ramban stretches, the long-notorious Khooni Nala (Khooni Nalah) area saw landslips and alarmingly high flows that blocked roads and triggered rescue operations; footage and local reports indicate recent slope failures and ongoing clearances. Humanitarian access is constrained where landslides have severed feeder roads. Health and sanitation are immediate concerns: authorities and public-health experts warn of risks from contaminated water, shortages of safe drinking water and potential water-borne disease in flood-affected communities; distribution of ORS, antibiotics and clean water is being prioritised at relief camps.
The toll on lives and property was recorded across multiple districts. Authorities and media reported a continued rise in rain-related fatalities through the month, with recent cloudbursts and landslides contributing to the highest cumulative regional loss in recent years. Mountain districts experienced particularly violent flash events, where slope failures and debris flows blocked routes and swept away structures. In the plains, especially along river corridors, whole compounds and shop fronts were inundated. Official tallies and verified field reporting recorded multiple deaths as rescue teams worked to evacuate stranded people and retrieve those trapped by collapsing terrain. These are active, updating figures; this account references conservative, verified counts reported by established agencies at the time of writing.
Connectivity was among the earliest and most visible casualties. A critical approach to one of Jammu’s Tawi bridges suffered collapse after scouring and undermining of its foundation during the river’s peak flow. Photographs and on-site footage showed damaged sections of road and vehicles stranded where the approach gave way, and local engineers described how erosive currents removed supporting material from beneath pavement slabs. Within hours engineers from army units responded to the breach; military teams assembled a 110-foot bailey bridge to restore an emergency route for essential vehicles and to allow limited traffic while permanent repairs are planned and designed. That rapid military engineering intervention restored a vital link for ambulances, relief convoys and other immediate needs, even as permanent reconstruction remains necessary once waters and soils stabilise.
Rail services that link the Jammu region to the plains and to pilgrimage routes were heavily disrupted. Northern Railway issued bulletins that listed widespread cancellations and short-terminations as track inspection teams assessed embankments, culverts and bridge approaches for water damage and potential misalignment. To assist stranded passengers, the railways ran special evacuation services from Jammu station even while dozens of scheduled services remained cancelled across the division. Passengers at key stations reported long delays and uncertain information as timetables were revised and engineering responses progressed; railway officials emphasised that restoration of full services would be dependent on the completion of safety checks and the repair of eroded trackbeds and bridge abutments.
Across the region the air force and army played a significant operational role in relief. Helicopter sorties carried health teams, food and equipment to pockets unreachable by road; transport aircraft moved NDRF contingents and emergency supplies; and engineering detachments prioritised temporary solutions to restore minimal links where collapse had cut off suburbs and villages. These aerial and engineering interventions increased the capacity for targeted rescue and medical response, but the scale of the event created unavoidable bottlenecks in delivering assistance to every affected household quickly. Civilians in many localities described scenes in which relief was visible along major roads and at large evacuation sites, but less present in interior lanes and smaller colonies until ground access was restored.
The economic consequences were immediate. Flooded markets and submerged shops meant perishable stock was lost, daily-wage earners could not reach workplaces, and small businesses saw trading grind to a halt. The closure of schools and colleges as a precautionary measure removed normal childcare and routine work patterns for many households. Transport disruptions both local and long-distance affected supply lines for essentials and constrained seasonal and pilgrimage-related economies that depend on reliable movement. Estimates for repair and restoration costs are preliminary and local, but residents and small-business owners expressed concern that replacing appliances, repairing structures and restocking inventories would be a long and expensive process once waters recede.
Health and sanitation risks multiplied in the immediate aftermath. Standing water in inhabited spaces and the mixing of sewage with floodwater raised the short-term danger of water-borne diseases. Power outages and downed lines increased the risk of electrocution where water-laden homes retained live wiring. Local health teams, working with relief agencies, prioritised distribution of safe drinking water, ORS and wound-care medicines, and they set up medical camps near evacuation centres; longer-term risks include vector-borne diseases and infection from contaminated water, which authorities and public-health workers flagged as imminent concerns in the days following the inundation.
Evacuations moved thousands to temporary shelters. District administrations, often working with state disaster teams and central agencies, established relief camps and community kitchens to accommodate evacuees. In several urban sectors, school halls and municipal grounds were converted into overnight shelters and bases for supplies and medical care. The NDRF, SDRF and Army units operated jointly in the most inaccessible sectors, with boats and amphibious equipment used to extract households stranded on upper floors. In some places, the arrival of air-droppable rations and water bottles shortened wait times for basic provisions; in others, the damaged state of feeder roads delayed the delivery of bulk consignments. These operational trade-offs between aerial and road delivery reflected the urgent choices facing responders working under constrained conditions.
Local testimony gives the scale and texture of household experience. In Trikuta Nagar Extension, a residential suburb of Jammu, residents documented overflowing nallahs and rapidly rising water at doorsteps. One resident, Sandeep Bhat, recorded images showing the drain beside his home spilling across the compound boundary. He reported moving his family to higher ground with what they could carry and described the lanes around his home as knee- to waist-deep in places. Similar accounts emerged from other colonies where households were marooned on upper floors, concerned for elders and children and waiting for rescue or relief deliveries. These personal accounts, collected from affected neighbourhoods, show the simultaneous urgency of immediate rescue and the longer wait for follow-up assistance such as dry rations, medicines and sanitation kits.
In mountainous districts of north Kashmir and the broader Jammu division, the danger manifested differently. There, steep slopes, narrow valleys and fragile roads magnified the effects of cloudbursts: landslides cut hillside roads, hamlets were isolated by debris flows, and entire stretches of pilgrim footpaths and feeder lanes were rendered unusable. Evacuation in such terrain required specialised engineering equipment and, in several cases, aerial insertion or extraction. District authorities and paramilitary units prioritised moving people from the most exposed slopes and valleys to safer municipal and camp locations, but the terrain and ongoing rains prolonged the timeframe for sweeping search-and-rescue operations.
The role of local volunteers and neighbourhood groups proved decisive where formal response elements could not immediately reach. Community members used small boats and makeshift rafts to move food and elderly residents, opened private houses and school halls to neighbours and organised spontaneous community kitchens that fed dozens before larger scale distributions arrived. These ad-hoc local efforts did not replace formal rescue operations, but where they were present they often reduced immediate exposure and provided critical support for vulnerable households. Coordination between volunteer groups and official incident command posts varied by location, and authorities encouraged structured volunteer channels to ensure safety and efficient use of resources. Field reports underscored the importance of such civil-society contributions alongside the formal deployments.
Information flow and communications were intermittent in several zones. Mobile network outages and sporadic internet connectivity complicated calls for help and slowed the relay of real-time needs to district command centres. Where communication lines failed, rescue teams relied on patrols, radio links and local volunteers to identify isolated households. Local administrations issued public advisories through available media and used loudspeakers and community leaders to broadcast evacuation points and relief distribution schedules. The patchy state of communications also created confusion for commuters and pilgrims seeking clarity on train and road statuses, underscoring the need for centralized, redundant information channels during large-scale floods.
Authorities implemented short-term engineering measures while planning longer-term reconstruction. Temporary bridges and bailey spans restored critical links for emergency vehicles; municipal teams cleared main drains and used mechanised pumps to lower standing water in public spaces; and railway engineering contingents inspected and repaired vulnerable stretches of track and washed-out embankments. Full reconstruction replacing washed-out approach slabs, stabilising embankments and rebuilding culverts and roadbeds will depend on the resumption of dry weather and the delivery of materials and heavy machinery once access allows. Officials emphasised that while temporary fixes restore basic mobility, the permanent rehabilitation of infrastructure will require scaled procurement, engineering assessments and careful soil stabilisation work.
The immediate priorities articulated by relief coordinators were consistent across districts: finish search-and-rescue, expand the reach of relief distributions into isolated pockets, provide targeted medical outreach to prevent outbreak of disease, and stabilise transport links to permit heavy supplies to reach every affected locality. For affected households, the near-term reality is a combination of salvage and triage: save essential documents and valuables, remove mud and contaminated items from living spaces when feasible, disinfect and dry rescued goods when water levels fall, and document losses for subsequent claims and reconstruction support. Relief officials cautioned that the first weeks would be critical, not only for rescue and basic sustenance but also to set the groundwork for medium-term recovery and rehabilitation.
This account draws on verified, contemporaneous reporting from national and international outlets, official bulletins from railway and defence authorities, and direct on-the-ground statements from affected residents and local officials. Where precise numerical tallies vary between agencies, the figures used here reflect conservative, cross-checked reporting current as of 31 August 2025. The flood emergency remains active and many details continue to be updated in real time; this piece aims to present a consolidated, factual depiction of the situation across Jammu and north Kashmir, the immediate impacts on people and infrastructure, and the unfolding operational response being conducted by civil and defence agencies.
The writer is student of MA Mass communication, AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi |
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