J-K CM reaches cloudburst-hit Chasoti village to assess damage

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday reached Chasoti village in the Kishtwar district to assess the damage caused by flash floods triggered by a cloudburst that left 60 persons dead and over 100 injured.

A coordinated rescue and relief operation is under way in the village where 75 persons have been reported missing by their families, even as locals and witnesses claim that hundreds may have been swept away by the flash floods and buried under giant boulders, wooden logs and rubble.

The Chief Minister, who arrived in Kishtwar on Friday evening, left for Chasoti by road early Saturday. He is accompanied by his political advisor Nasir Aslam Wani.

A senior Army officer, supervising the relief and rescue operation, briefed Abdullah at the scene about the ongoing operation. The Chief Minister was also provided with a virtual reality headset to understand the extent of damage caused by the flash floods.

Tragedy struck Chasoti — the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple — around 12:25 pm on August 14. It flattened a makeshift market, a community kitchen site for the pilgrimage, and a security outpost.

At least 16 houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-meter-long bridge, and over a dozen vehicles were also damaged in the flash flood.

The annual Machail Mata Yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the third consecutive day on Saturday.

The 8.5-km trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine starts from Chasoti, around 90 km from Kishtwar town.