J-K cloudburst: Army will restore normalcy soon, says GOC 15 corps

General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 15 Corps, Lieutenant General Subrata Saha, on Friday said the work to restore normalcy in the cloud burst-affected areas is underway in full swing and hoped that the work would be finished soon if the rain does not intensify.

"There was cloud burst last evening at about 6 pm last evening at three places, the transport and communication has been affected. In Kullan, a nala which flows into Sindh river is overflowing, it has washed of part of the road, in that the work is on and we have send some Army engineering columns.. They are working on it and in another 5-6 hours we should be able to get that part through. The second affected area is a bit long, it is about 700 meters, the moment Kullan opens up, we will be able to push in some more equipments and the work there could be done in another 15-16 hours," Lieutenant General Saha told ANI

"Third part in Sonemarg, there is a lot of slush on the road, we are using a dozer and should be able to get it through in 5-6 hours.... It is unfortunate, that two girls have passed away, another male labourer has also passed away. Two people are still missing and the search is on for them... If it continues to drizzle as it is now then we will finish the operation in 15-16 hours, if rain intensifies then it becomes a challenge," he added.

Three people, including two children have died due to flooding after a cloudburst near Sonamarg in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

The cloud burst has also affected the Amarnath yatra, which has been suspended in the wake of cloud burst. The debris and slush due to cloud burst has also forced the authorities to shut down Srinagar-Leh Highway.