Rain brings relief…chaos

Srinagar, Jul 7: After weeks of scorching heat and a prolonged dry spell, Srinagar received the much-awaited rainfall on Monday, offering much-needed respite to residents battling record-breaking temperatures.

The downpour in parts of Srinagar brought cheers and relief across the city.

Following the rainfall, many areas in Srinagar were waterlogged.

The rain spell came as a blessing for residents, especially those in the uptown Srinagar localities including Sonwar, Mehjoor Nagar, Natipora, Chanapora, Nowgam, Budshahnagar, Barzulla, Rambagh, Batamaloo, Bemina and adjoining areas.

Rains were also reported from the upper Harwan areas like New Theed, Dara, and Hazratbal outskirts.

People were seen stepping out of their homes to enjoy the showers after days of relentless heat.

“I was happy like a child when it started raining in our area. We were pestered by this intense heatwave. It felt suffocating. Today, we had a rain spell here, and I pray that Kashmir witnesses more rains so that people, especially farmers, get some relief,” said Musaib Ahmad of Natipora.

Meanwhile, gusty winds accompanying rains caused some damage in parts of the city.

In an incident at Batwara, a tree was uprooted by strong winds and fell on an e-rickshaw.

“It was a terrifying moment. A huge tree suddenly came crashing down on a vehicle. The incident created panic, and people rushed indoors for safety,” an eyewitness said.

The rains also waterlogged many major roads, with vehicles seen submerged under water amid rainfall.

The locals said that while the rains brought relief to them, they also exposed the flawed drainage system in Srinagar.

“The rains should have brought relief, but they made life difficult in no time. The roads turned into river streams within minutes in Srinagar, exposing the drainage system. Let alone pedestrians, the vehicles were unable to move around amid massive waterlogging,” said Farooq Ahmad.

Nevertheless, the rainfall also made its way to social media, with locals sharing videos and photos of the showers from their neighbourhoods.

Comments poured in with one user writing, “Thanks to Allah, finally the dry spell has been broken in many areas. We pray for more rains in the entire Kashmir.”

The residents said the downpour could not have been timelier as authorities recently announced the end of the summer break for schools, with classes set to resume from Tuesday.

Many parents had expressed concern about sending their children to school amid the sweltering heat.

The brief rain spell has now raised hopes for a drop in temperatures and more pleasant weather in the days to come.

As people celebrated the welcome change, many remained hopeful that this would mark the beginning of a better weather phase.