1,900 houses damaged across state; Shopian and Bandipora worst affected The number of deaths caused by the snowstorm that battered the state for nearly 60 hours has risen to 17. Nearly 1,900 houses have been damaged by the snow fury that triggered avalanches. Since last night, the death toll has increased from 11 to 17, a senior government official said today. Eleven people have died in the Kashmir division while six fatalities were reported in the Jammu division. The snowstorm ended on Wednesday morning. “We have 17 deaths in the state till today morning, which includes five in Kargil, four in Reasi and three in Kulgam,” said Secretary of State, Revenue Department, Vinod Koul. The rest of the fatalities occurred in Kashmir's Shopian and Budgam districts and in Jammu's Doda district. The dead include two soldiers, who were buried under an avalanche which hit a camp in Kargil district’s Drass sector, and three Nepali labourers, who were killed by another avalanche in Kargil’s Kaksar sector. Two children were among the three killed when an avalanche swept over a village in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. The official said nearly 1,900 houses have been partially or completely damaged by the heavy snowfall in the state. “Nearly 50 per cent of the damage has happened in Budgam district,” Koul said, adding that these are initial estimates as assessment of the damage was still being carried out. “Some places hit by the storm are far off, so these figures may change,” he said. The state administration said it was working to restore essential services as the three days of incessant snowfall caused widespread damage to infrastructure and inundated roads and residential colonies. Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Shailendra Kumar, who addressed reporters here in the city along with senior officials of various departments, said efforts were being made to restore all essential services. “If reports are to be believed this has not happened in the last four decades. This kind of snowfall was definitely not predicted,” Kumar said. “We tried to respond positively... avalanche alert was already given to all districts,” he said. The worst-affected areas by the snow storm are the Gurez region of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district and south Kashmir’s Shopian district, where more than 40 inches of snow has fallen, Kumar said. Army rescues 9 persons Srinagar:The Army has rescued around nine people trapped in avalanche-hit areas of south Kashmir. A Defence spokesman said in the past two days, Army teams rescued many people, including two pregnant women. “Information regarding an avalanche in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district was received on Wednesday and a rescue team of a Rashtriya Rifles unit was rushed to the spot. The team managed to rescue seven civilians. However, before the team reached the place, three persons had died,” the spokesman said. — TNS