Jammu/Shimla/Chandigarh/New Delhi, Aug. 27 -- Relentless rain battered swathes of Jammu, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, with floodwaters and raging rivers destroying infrastructure and killing 11 people, while snow cloaked patches of the Himalayas several weeks ahead of schedule, as extreme weather crippled everyday life in the mountains. A landslide on the route to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu killed seven people, with several feared trapped, and four people died as showers pummelled Doda district in the Union territory, said officials aware of the matter. The mayhem prompted frantic rescue efforts across the states and Union territory, with army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams helming relief operations in Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab. Weather experts warned that the rains would subside but continue all week, as local officials evacuated people living along the swollen Tavi, Beas and Ravi rivers. An interaction between a cyclonic circulation over Haryana and Rajasthan and a western disturbance was pushing rain clouds into the northern states and feeding these regions with torrential rain, said scientists. "Extremely heavy rain will subside gradually after 24 hours," said Mahesh Palawat, vice president, climate and meteorology at Skymet Weather. North India has been ravaged by rain this monsoon, with suspected cloudbursts triggering flash floods and mudslides across states, burying entire hamlets, snapping bridges and destroying roads, leaving people marooned and forcing authorities to airdrop supplies. Flash floods wreaked havoc in Dharali village of Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi on August 5, with just one person confirmed dead and several still missing. Then, a flash flood tore through Chishoti village in Kishtwar district of J&K on August 15, killing at least 65, with many missing. On Tuesday, Jammu bore the brunt of the rain, receiving over 250mm of rain between 8.30am and 5.30pm, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). A landslide tore down the winding route to the Vaishno Devi shrine, burying several people and killing at least seven. First responders scrambled to pull those trapped out of the mud, halfway along the 12-km trek from Katra town to the hilltop shrine. The pilgrimage was suspended. The weather also took down cellphone towers and electricity poles, disrupting telecom services and power supply for millions of people. Of the four deaths in Doda, three slipped and fell into a river and one was crushed in a house collapse. Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar and Kishtwar-Doda national highways was suspended and dozens of hill roads were blocked or damaged by landslides or flashfloods, said officials. Many trains to and from Jammu were cancelled. The rising waters of the Chenab threatened to plough through the crucial Pul Doda bridge, which links Doda with the Batote-Kishtwar national highway. Three relief columns of the Army were mobilised for relief operations in and around Katra, according to the Jammu Defence PRO. Authorities in Jammu imposed restrictions on the movement of people at night hours as a precautionary measure, an official order said. J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah called the situation "serious" and said he had asked for rescue efforts to be dialled up. He also spoke to Union home minister Amit Shah. "The local administration is engaged in relief and rescue work to help the injured, and an NDRF team is also reaching there," Shah said in a post on X. Several parts of Ladakh, including the 18,379-feet-high Khardung La and 17,950-foot high Changla Top, received the season's first snowfall, as the rains lowered temperatures to levels well below normal. Experts confirmed that a peculiar set of weather conditions was feeding the mountains with extreme rain and untimely snow. "Normally, snowfall doesn't happen during this time of the year even in the higher reaches. It starts around September end. But because it has been raining continuously, which has led to temperatures dropping further, this rain has turned into snow. Ladakh is a cold desert and continuous, heavy rain of this kind is somewhat unusual," said Palawat. Heavy rain also lashed Himachal Pradesh, triggering more mudslides, even as the northern reaches of Lahaul and Spiti received snow, many weeks before the usual end-September schedule. The gushing waters of the Beas river washed away hotels, houses and shops in Kullu and cut-off the vital Manali-Leh highway. The river's waters roared beneath bridges, threatening to snap dozens of rusting, old structures. Officials said 677 roads along with three national highways - NH-03, NH-05, and NH-305 were closed at several points due to debris. According to data from state officials, the state has, since June 20, seen 84 landslides, 90 flashfloods and 42 cloudbursts. Everyday life in Punjab was hit as well, with widespread showers across the state. The swollen Beas river inundated low-lying areas in Kapurthala district with water 15-20-feet-high collecting in the paddy fields. The showers also pushed water into the state's crucial dams, sending their levels precipitously close to their limits and dangerous thresholds, said local officials. According to the Bhakra Beas Management Board, Pong Dam is brimming at 1,388.22 feet, just over a foot below the maximum capacity of 1,390 feet. Similarly, the water level in the Ranjit Sagar Dam is 527.14m, just below the danger mark of 527.91m. The water at Bhakra Dam's Gobind Sagar Lake was at 1,670.70ft, nine below the danger mark of 1,680ft....