Search for trapped victims continues on Day 4 in Kishtwar

The death toll due to a cloudburst in Kishtwar district rose to 61, as rescuers continued operations for the fourth day on Sunday, effecting three more blasts to blow up boulders around a major impact spot, officials said.

Army engineers have started working on a bailey bridge to restore connectivity to Chisoti village and the Machail Mata shrine and further intensify the rescue efforts.

With the recovery of another body from the debris, the officials on Sunday said the death toll has risen to 61.

The cloudburst struck Chisoti, the last motorable village en route the Machail Mata temple, on August 14, leaving over 100 injured, other than the fatalities.

The number of missing persons has come down to 50, while the bodies of three persons still remain unidentified.

The flash floods triggered by the cloudburst left a trail of destruction, flattening a makeshift market, a langar (community kitchen) site for the Machail Mata Yatra, damaging 16 houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre-long bridge, and more than a dozen vehicles.

The rescuers conducted three more controlled explosions within a span of 45 minutes to blow up giant boulders hampering the search operation, the officials said.

Despite overcast conditions, the joint teams of police, Army, NDRF, SDRF, BRO, civil administration, and local volunteers are continuing the rescue efforts. The rescuers are utilising more than a dozen earth-movers and other heavy equipment, while the NDRF has mobilised its resources, including dog squads, to speed up the rescue operation.

General Officer Commanding of the Army’s counter-insurgency Delta Force, Major General APS Bal, said Army engineers conducted a survey of the area after the need for a bridge was felt. “We need a 17-metre bridge, which will be installed to facilitate smooth movement across the river,” the officer said.

Meanwhile, political leaders from different parties, including J&K Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra, party’s working president Raman Bhalla, and former J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina, visited Chisoti on Sunday.

Karra demanded to declare the disaster a “national calamity” and the victims be accordingly compensated. “This is a most tragic incident in which so many precious lives have been lost. The Central government should take necessary steps to adequately compensate the victims,” Karra said.

He said the government cannot ignore the issues concerning the environment to safeguard the fragile ecology of the hilly region. “We should avoid playing with nature,” Karra said, adding that they would submit a detailed report to the Congress high command on reaching Jammu.