Jammu, Feb 20: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said that Anantnag, Kulgam, and Ganderbal districts in Kashmir while Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Reasi, and Udhampur districts in Jammu division emerged in ìhighî vulnerability category, in the data of frequent cloud bursts, flash floods, landslides of the last 15 years in J&K.
The vulnerability was decided on the basis of human deaths, infrastructure damage and losses of agricultural and horticultural crops and livestock etc.
CM Omar shared this information, in a written reply to the National Conference MLA from Banihal, Sajjad Shaheenís question in the Legislative Assembly, regarding damages in recent flash floods, land subsidence and cloud burst in Ramban and Kishtwar districts, including Chisoti.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is also the Minister in-charge of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Department.
In response to a question about the proposal to install early warning and flood monitoring system in vulnerable areas to enable timely measures, the Chief Minister stated that India Meteorological Department (IMD) was planning to make a hyper-local forecasting system over the Himalayan states, particularly for cloudburst-type rainfall events.
ìIn this regard, NDMA has identified 7 districts in the Himalayan States. For Jammu and Kashmir, district Ramban and Kishtwar are identified,î he shared.
CM Omar pointed out that the past data of frequent cloud bursts, flash floods, landslides of the last 15 years of each district was also available with Meteorological Centre-Srinagar.
ìBased on the data of past events of cloud bursts, flash floods and subsequent landslides for the last 15 years, the vulnerability categorisation of districts has been made as per human deaths, infrastructure damage, damage to agricultural and horticultural crops and livestock etc.,î he stated.
In Jammu division, as per this data, highly vulnerable districts are Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Reasi and Udhampur while Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua districts fall in medium range in terms of vulnerability. Jammu and Samba districts are of low vulnerability.
In Kashmir division, Anantnag, Kulgam and Ganderbal districts are in highly vulnerable category, followed by Budgam, Shopian and Pulwama in ìmediumî vulnerability range while Srinagar, Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora districts are of ìlowî vulnerability.
Spelling out other measures, the Chief Minister said that IMD was going to install four more Doppler weather radars and 34 automatic weather stations or snow gauges in J&K, in addition to already existing 3 X-band radars over the region in Srinagar, Jammu and Banihal.
According to him, four new radars are likely to be installed in Doda, Rajouri, Anantnag and Baramulla for catering weather services or early warning systems.
Moreover, additional 26 automatic weather stations and 8 snow gauges are likely to be installed in far flung areas of Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Rajouri, Udhampur, Kupwara, Bandipora, Baramulla and Shopian along with other hilly districts in addition to the existing network of 14 manual and 34 automatic weather observatories. ìThe additional observational and monitoring network will enhance the forecasting capacity or early warning system for hydro-meteorological natural disasters over the region,î the Chief Minister said.
With regard to a question about long term measures especially for slope stabilisation, watershed management and disaster resilient construction to tackle and minimise future flash floods and cloud-burst damages, with a particular reference to Ramban district, the Chief Minister informed that the Public Works (R&B) Department was initiating long-term and sustainable measures to mitigate and minimize damage to the bridge and roads arising from future flash floods and cloudburst events.
ìThese measures include slope stabilisation through geo-technical interventions such as retaining structures, breast walls, gabion walls, and bio-engineering techniques and adoption of disaster-resilient construction practices in the planning and execution of roads, bridges and allied infrastructure,î the Chief Minister informed.
Further, updated hydrological and geo-technical assessments, according to the Chief Minister, are being factored into the formulation of DPRs and vulnerability-prone locations are being identified for targeted interventions on a priority basis, subject to availability of funds.
Besides this, at the UT level, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of Indio deputed Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) for assessment of damages to the UT of J&K from September 3, 2025 to September 7, 2025 and the team visited various affected districts of the UT, CM Omar shared.
ìMemorandum of loss and damages stands submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India on November 6, 2025. On the request of the UT Government, NDMA deputed team of experts for the Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) in the UT of J&K in wake of the recent floods and a detailed PDNA exercise and assessment was carried out by team of UT officers and experts from NDMA with effect from November 17 to 25, 2025. The report of the same has been submitted to the MHA, Government of India,î CM Omar informed, in the reply.
J&K, according to the Chief Minister, has also constituted an expert committee for Hazard, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment (HVRA) for the Union Territory vide GO No16B-JK(GAD) of 2026 dated February 6, 2026. As per its terms of reference, it will assess multi-hazard risk including seismic, flood, landslide, GLOF, forest fire etc.
The expert panel will also demarcate hazard and zonation framework; prepare J&K HVRA atlas; prioritise sectoral and intervention strategies (short, mid, long-term); integrate HVRA outputs into planning and governance; recommend institutional and operational modalities for sustained HVRA updates; review existing plans and data systems for strengthening governance and submit recommendations on any relevant referred matters.
Earlier, the Chief Minister said that the district administration along with the line departments took immediate and proactive measures during the recent flash floods to ensure public safety and restore connectivity.
ìRapid damage assessment teams were deployed to identify affected roads, bridges and culverts. Emergency restoration works, including clearance of debris, restoration of washed-out approaches, and temporary repairs to damaged bridges and roads, were undertaken on a war-footing basis by deploying men and machinery round-the-clock,î he said.
