Amarnath flash floods may be due to highly localised rain event, not cloudburst: IMD

Hyderabad: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said the deaths and destruction near the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir were due to a highly localized rain event and not due to a cloudburst. According to weather scientists, the shrine reported 31 mm of rainfall between 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm on Friday, which is […]

Hyderabad: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said the deaths and destruction near the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir were due to a highly localized rain event and not due to a cloudburst.

According to weather scientists, the shrine reported 31 mm of rainfall between 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm on Friday, which is quite low to be categorised as a cloudburst.

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“The flash floods could have been triggered due to rainfall in the higher reaches of the mountains near the Amarnath cave shrine,” IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra told Press Trust of India.

According to the IMD, a rain event is categorized as a cloudburst if a weather station receives 100 mm of rain in one hour.

The IMD has an automatic weather station near the Amarnath cave shrine which provides weather forecasts during the pilgrimage. However, the surrounding mountains do not have any weather monitoring stations due to their inaccessibility.

At least 16 people were killed and tents and community kitchens near the shrine were swamped with mud and rocks that came hurtling down with a gush of water after a spell of rain on Friday evening.

The Telangana Government has set up two helpline numbers at Telangana Bhavan in New Delhi for extending help to those who are stuck in Amarnath yatra. Devotees, who are stuck in the pilgrimage can call on the helpline numbers 011- 23380556 or 011-23380558.