People living by the banks of river Jhelum had been asked to shift to safer places after the authorities informed the people that the water levels of the river were dangerously high after the never ending rains in the region.

Jhelum River's waters were flowing 16 feet higher than the optimum level in Ram Munshi Bagh region which had forced the officials to ask the people to move to safer regions according to the disaster management cell.

Since the night of Saturday the continuous rains have thrashed Kashmir leading to a steep increase in the levels of water in the rivulets and streams all along the valley.

Official recordings state that in less than 24 hours till today morning, Srinagar City alone had received over 13.6 mm of rain while the tourist resort, Gulmarg had witnessed 39.2 mm of rain, The Meteorological Department said.

Gateway town of Qazigund in south Kashmir's Anantnag district recorded 21.6 mm rainfall followed by Kupwara in north Kashmir at 20.9 mm and Pahalgam tourist resort at 11.6 mm.

The temperatures had also suffered as there was a sudden drop in the figures to 18.9 degrees maximum which was 9 degrees lesser than normal. Farmers have become concerned about the rainfall affecting the paddy fields.

(AW- Anil)