Landslide kills five, showers soak parts of North

A landslide, triggered by torrential rains, struck Kundial village in mountainous Doda district in Jammu region early this morning killing five members of a family, police said.

Showers lashed parts of Punjab and Haryana for the second day today bringing down mercury by a few notches and delaying the onset of summer. Amritsar received 16.8 mm of rain since last evening as the holy city and its surrounding areas were lashed by a hailstorm.

Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Moga, Phagwara, Gurdaspur and Pathankot also received showers which occurred due to a western disturbance over Jammu and Kashmir and adjoining areas, the weather office said.

A heavy downpour disrupted normal life in Narnaul in Haryana which received 35 mm of rain. Showers soaked other parts of the state with Karnal receiving 23.8 mm of rain, Hisar 12.9 mm and Rohtak 13.3 since yesterday.

Heavy rains pelted parts of Jammu and Kashmir where the national highway, connecting Jammu to the Valley, remained shut for two hours due to landslides at Panthal, some 140-km from Srinagar.

Nearly 29 mm of rain was dumped on Kupwara, 25.4 mm on Qazigund and 21.3 mm on summer capital Srinagar. The downpours swelled water bodies, including Jhelum river, in the Valley, an official of the Disaster Management Cell said in Srinagar. Fresh snowing was reported in higher reaches of scenic Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg reviving cold conditions in the Valley.

Delhi had a sunny day today after sporadic showers yesterday which broke the dry spell.