Srinagar, Aug. 28 -- Flood was declared in Kashmir in the wee hours on Wednesday as Jhelum river swelled owing to intermittent rains on Tuesday and its waters slowly entered low lying areas of south Kashmir and Srinagar city as the day progressed. At 2:30 am, the authorities declared flood after Jhelum crossed the danger mark of 21.66 feet at Sangam in south Kashmir's Anantnag. By the afternoon, the waters crossed flood alert level of 18 feet in Srinagar's Ram Munshibagh even though there were minimal rains on Wednesday. By 5pm , the water level at Sangam started receding owing to the improvement in weather and the level at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar had reached 20.86 feet (danger level is 21 feet) and started stalling. While police and SDRF were pushed into action to help people evacuate in low lying areas of south Kashmir and Srinagar's Kursu Rajbagh where the Jhelum waters had slowly entered, the divisional administration convened an emergency meeting to assess their readiness. Kashmir divisional commissioner Anshul Garg conducted an on-ground inspection at Ram Munshi Bagh to assess the water levels of River Jhelum. He said that they are continuously monitoring the evolving situation and assured that all necessary contingency plans and response mechanisms were in place to effectively manage any potential flood-related challenges. "The adverse weather conditions are prevailing. While situation is bad in Jammu, the situation in Kashmir is under control and is being closely monitored. Irrigation and flood control teams are continuously monitoring from south Kashmir to north Kashmir. Our water gauge levels are being monitored closely at Sangam, Anantnag and Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar," Garg said. He said that all the deputy commissioners of south Kashmir and central Kashmir are on spot. "That is why we had closed schools, colleges and universities as a precautionary measure (in six districts)," he said. The divisional commissioner also appealed to the general public to remain vigilant, follow official advisories, and avoid venturing close to rivers, streams, and other water bodies during this period of heightened vulnerability. He said that there is no major weather activity as per the prediction of Indian Meteorological Department. "The water levels should recede in the coming hours," he said. Many nomadic families were evacuated by police in Anantnag and Pulwama districts, Srinagar police helped people to come out of the flood inundated Kursu Rajbagh. "Srinagar police teams have been deployed across the city to respond to rain-related challenges in scenario wherein stranded civilians, especially in low-lying and waterlogged areas need evacuation, coordinating with civil departments for swift dewatering and sanitation efforts, supporting the traffic police in managing congested routes and diverting vehicles from flooded zones and responding promptly to emergency calls via Police Control Room (PCR) and established dedicated helplines numbers in Srinagar," a police spokesperson said. The government said that in view of the inclement weather across Kashmir division, divisional commissioner (div com) Kashmir, Anshul Garg, convened an urgent meeting to assess the readiness of departments and district administrations to respond to any emergency and potential threat of floods in low-lying areas. Commissioner of SMC informed the meeting that 49 mobile dewatering pumps had been deployed in waterlogged areas across the city. "Officials from the meteorological department informed the gathering that there is currently no imminent flood threat, and the weather is expected to improve later in the evening," the spokesperson said....