Heavy rainfall, landslides wreak havoc in J-K's Ramban; 3 dead
Ramban/Jammu, Apr 20 (PTI): Heavy rainfall due to cloudbursts triggered flash floods and landslides in several areas of Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district early Sunday, leaving three people dead and damaging scores of houses and roads, while more than 100 people were rescued.
Traffic on the strategic Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was suspended as the road was blocked at nearly a dozen places between Nashri and Banihal due to landslides and mudslides, officials said.
Hundreds of commuters were left stranded on the 250-kilometre highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country.
A cloudburst struck the Seri Bagna village, resulting in the deaths of three persons, including brothers Aqib Ahmad and Mohd Saqib. The rescue operation in the village was continuing when the last reports were received, officials said.
With the latest fatalities, five people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents in the Jammu region in two days. Two people, including a woman, were killed and another woman was injured when they were struck by lightning in the Arnas area of Reasi district late on Saturday.
The officials said about 40 residential houses were damaged after a flash flood hit Dharam Kund village. Ten houses were fully damaged while the rest suffered partial damage.
More than 100 trapped villagers were rescued by police personnel who rushed to the site despite the continuous downpour, they said.
Several vehicles were swept away in the flood caused by an overflowing stream, officials said,
"The situation is bad.. on my return I will submit my report to the chief minister," Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said in Ramban after he visited the affected areas accompanied by NC MLAs Arjun Singh Raju (Ramban) and Sajad Shaheen (Banihal).
A senior government official said there has been massive damage in the entire district due to heavy rain, cloudbursts, high-velocity winds, landslides and hailstorms.
"We are monitoring the situation and an assessment will be carried out later to provide assistance to the affected population. Our priority at the moment is to safeguard lives," said the senior official, who did not wish to be named.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed grief over the loss of lives and said that all possible assistance is being extended to the affected families.
The district administration, State Disaster Response Force and rescue teams were on the job to ensure swift relief, Sinha said.
"The purpose of my visit is to convey to the people that Omar Abdullah led government stands with them in this hour of grief," the deputy chief minister said in Ramban.
He said a detailed report will be sought from the deputy commissioner and every attempt will be made to compensate the losses suffered by the people.
A traffic department spokesperson said vehicular movement on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was stopped from both sides due to landslides, mudslides and shooting stones at multiple places between Nashri and Banihal.
He said the rain was continuing along the highway and commuters were advised not to travel on the arterial road till the weather improved and the road cleared.
A stretch of the road near Panthiyal was also swept away, the officials said and added all the stranded people were moved to safety.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh appreciated the district administration headed by Deputy Commissioner Baseer-ul-Haq Chaudhary for prompt action in saving precious lives.
"There was a heavy hailstorm, multiple landslides and fast winds throughout the night in the Ramban region, including the areas surrounding the Ramban town. The national highway stands blocked and unfortunately, there have been three casualties and loss of property for a couple of families," he said in a post on X.
"I am in constant touch with the deputy commissioner. The district administration deserves appreciation for timely and prompt action, which helped save several precious lives," he added.
The Udhampur MP said every kind of relief -- financial and otherwise -- was being provided.
"The deputy commissioner has been conveyed that, if need be, whatever more is required, can be provided from the MP's personal resources as well. The request is not to panic. We shall all, together, overcome this natural calamity," Singh said.
NC leader Farooq Abdullah said large-scale damage has been reported in the Ramban and Banihal areas.
"The government is rushing its ministers to the affected areas and we will also request the Centre for financial assistance so that adequate relief is given to the people hit by the disaster," he said.
#Ramban #JammuAndKashmir: There was a heavy hailstorm, multiple landslides and fast winds throughout the night in the Ramban region, including the areas surrounding the Ramban town. The National Highway stands blocked and unfortunately there have been 3 casualties and loss of…
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'Everyone wants name in newspapers': SC says no to fresh pleas against Waqf law
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday refused to examine a couple of fresh pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, saying everybody wants name in newspapers.
A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih said it would decide the pending matter scheduled to come up on May 20.
The apex court would then hear the point of interim relief in the case.
As soon as one of the pleas came up for hearing on Friday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, objected and said there can't be an "endless" filing of pleas challenging the Act.
The counsel appearing for the petitioner said he had filed the petition on April 8 and removed the defects pointed out by the apex court registry on April 15 but his plea was not listed for hearing.
"Everybody wants his name to be in the newspapers," the CJI observed.
When the lawyer urged the bench his plea should be tagged with the pending petitions, the bench said, "We will decide that matter."
The bench then dismissed it.
When another similar plea came up for hearing, the bench said, "Dismissed".
When the counsel for the petitioner urged that he be allowed to intervene in the pending pleas, the CJI said, "We already have too many intervenors."
On April 17, the apex court decided to hear only five of the total number of pleas before it.
The pleas challenging the Act came up for hearing before a bench comprising the CJI and Justice Masih on May 15.
The bench said it would hear arguments on May 20 for passing interim directions on three issues including the power to denotify properties declared as waqf by courts, waqf-by-user or waqf by deed.
The second issue raised by the petitioners relates to the composition of state waqf boards and the Central Waqf Council, where they contend only Muslims should operate except ex-officio members.
The third issue relates to a provision that says a waqf property will not be treated as a waqf when the collector conducts an inquiry to ascertain if the property is government land.
On April 17, the Centre assured the top court that it would neither denotify waqf properties, including "waqf by user", nor make any appointments to the central waqf council and boards till May 5.
Mehta on May 15 told the apex court that in any case, there was a subsisting assurance of the Centre that no waqf properties, including those established by waqf by user, would be denotified.
The Centre had opposed the apex court's proposal to pass an interim order against the denotification of waqf properties, including "waqf by user" aside from staying a provision allowing the inclusion of non-Muslims in the central waqf councils and boards.
On April 25, the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs filed a preliminary 1,332-page affidavit defending the amended Waqf Act of 2025 and opposed any "blanket stay" by the court on a "law having presumption of constitutionality passed by Parliament".
