The extreme weather condition has put a brief halt on political rallies as all the parties have urged the administration to focus on rescue and relief operations in the affected areas. However, politicians conducted door-to-door election meetings and indoor public meetings.
The national highway connecting Kashmir with Jammu has been closed due to landslides and subsidence at several places. The alternative Mughal road connecting Shopian in Kashmir with Poonch in Jammu and the highway connecting Kashmir with Ladakh has been closed as well. Higher reaches in Kashmir valley, including the tourist spot of Gulmarg have received fresh snowfall.
The adverse weather conditions prompted the administration to announce closure of all the schools in Kashmir Valley on Tuesday and examinations of the universities were deferred as well. The water level in river Jhelum has surged and crossed the danger mark at several places, submerging some of the areas on its bank.
The Srinagar city also witnessed water logging at several places despite the recent redevelopment of the city under the ‘Smart City’ project. The administration has also set up control rooms to closely monitor the situation and issued details of possible relief and rehabilitation areas in case of flooding in the urban areas of Srinagar, which is mainly located on the two banks of Jhelum.
In the Handwara and Kupwara areas of northern Kashmir, several areas were flooded and the administration had to carry out the rescue operations. In Anantnag district of southern Kashmir, flash floods damaged a bridge and washed away some orchards as well.The regional meteorological department in Srinagar has informed that the weather will improve from Wednesday onwards till May 5. The National Conference candidate from Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency Omar Abdullah visited several affected areas in the constituency, while PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, who is fighting from Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, visited several areas in southern Kashmir.Interestingly, citing weather conditions, the BJP, J&K Apni Party, J&K People’s Conference and now Democratic Progressive Azad Party have sought deferment of polls in Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat–spread across Pir Panjal range – scheduled on May 7. However, the NC and the PDP have opposed the move, terming it BJP’s desperation to “sabotage democracy”. The BJP and PC have not fielded candidates in this constituency.
“If this why BJP wants to defer the Anantnag-Rajouri election so that its leaders can openly threaten violence against Paharis to force them to vote for Apni Party or else they will create communal tensions reminiscent of the 1947 partition…The ECI should see the attempted deferment in context of threatening,” said Mufti, while sharing video of campaign speech purportedly of a BJP activist.