like situation for several years, with underground water levels sinking to dangerous levels, and most of the dams and lakes almost dried up. But the recent rains and snow have not only broken the protracted dry spell, but also burst embankments of some dams, with water levels at some dams, including the Angola dam in Jauni district and the Hangol rain-fed stream, rising to dangerous levels. The casualties in northern Pakistan have meanwhile risen to at least 59, with one avalanche in the Neelum valley of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir burying about 40 people, and another one in Diamer district, some 300 kilometres north of Islamabad, killing at least eight people. --SP 1516 Local Time 1216 GMT
