Srinagar, Sep 3: On Wednesday, Jhelum surged past the danger mark once more at crucial stations, including Sangam and Ram Munshi Bagh.
This marks the seventh “close call” of floods since the 2014 deluge that devastated homes and caused massive destruction across Kashmir.
Over the past month, Jhelum has breached danger points twice, putting a question mark over the flood mitigation efforts for the past 11 years, promises and projects for which were made with much fanfare.
All eyes were on the water levels at various monitoring stations of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department since Tuesday evening, when heavy rains lashed south Kashmir and parts of central Kashmir.
The water levels in Vaishow and Lidder surged dramatically, causing flooding in nearby areas; however, as the waters entered Jhelum at Sangam in Anantnag, the flood threat became imminent.
From 22-feet water level at 11 am on Wednesday, the water level at Sangam rose to 27 feet at 6 pm, and the water level breached the danger level.
At Ram Munshi Bagh, the water level was perched at 22.25 feet at 12 am on September 4.
This is the nearest monitoring station to Srinagar, and residents across Srinagar were in a state of panic and trauma.
The World Bank-funded Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP) and the Comprehensive Flood Management Plan (CFMP), which had been initiated post-2014 to strengthen embankments, create more capacity in Jhelum by dredging channels, and upgrade infrastructure, have failed to deliver any tangible results.
While JTFRP was extended to August 2026, the past 10 years seem to have ended dismally up in no results.
Less than two days of rain have brought Kashmir back to the verge of massive and widespread floods.
For the past five years, Jhelum has not been dredged at all, while the massive encroachments of banks, flood channels, and wetlands continue, leaving Kashmir in harm’s way.
The apathy towards flood mitigation plans has left Kashmir vulnerable to climate-amplified risks.
Over the past 11 years, since September 7, 2014, floods, Jhelum has flowed at dangerous levels, even breaching critical marks at least seven times.
In September 2014, water in Sangam peaked 34.7 feet and at about 29.5 feet at Ram Munshi Bagh.
The level was beyond the 21-foot danger threshold. Over 200 lives were lost. The damages ran into crores.
Key assets like hospitals and schools were destroyed.
Just half a year later, in March 2015, incessant rains pushed Ram Munshi Bagh to roughly 23 feet, triggering scares and evacuations.
Two years later, in July 2017, monsoons swelled Jhelum over danger levels at both Sangam and Ram Munshi Bagh.
This started to expose the weaknesses of JTFRP reinforcements and emphasised the urgency of dredging.
In July 2018, water levels hit 22.31 feet at Sangam and 20.89 feet at Ram Munshi Bagh again, almost nearing full breach.
Less than a year later, in April 2019, heavy precipitation and snowmelt drove the river past danger at Sangam, with Ram Munshi Bagh teetering close.
Flood alerts were issued.
However, JTFRP advancements were hindered by bottlenecks.
On 26-27 August 2025, the sixth event of flood threat ensued with Sangam reaching 23.99 feet and Ram Munshi Bagh reaching 21.10 feet.
This was due to the torrential rains and ‘cloudbursts’ in the upper reaches of south Kashmir.
It gave birth to intense and necessary debates about the JTFRP and CFMP efficacy and performance over the past decade.
As this report is filed, the seventh escalation unfolds amid 24 hours of heavy rainfall.
