Explosives used to blast giant boulders to speed up rescue efforts
Kishtwar/Jammu: A coordinated rescue and relief operation continued for the third consecutive day on Saturday in a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, where 60 people lost their lives and over 100 others were injured, while as explosives were used to blast giant boulders hampering the ongoing rescue and relief operations on the third day on Saturday, officials said.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh, accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat, visited the devastated village late Friday night and reviewed ongoing rescue and relief efforts carried out by the police, army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), civil administration, and local volunteers operating in the high-altitude terrain.
So far, 46 bodies have been identified and handed over to their next of kin after completion of legal formalities. Meanwhile, 75 persons have been reported missing by their families, although locals and eyewitnesses claim that hundreds may have been swept away by flash floods and buried under giant boulders, logs, and rubble.
Among the deceased were two personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and a Special Police Officer (SPO) of the local police, the officials added.
The disaster struck Chasoti —the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple—at approximately 12:25 pm on August 14. It flattened a makeshift market, a langar (community kitchen) site for the yatra, and a security outpost.
At least 16 residential 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 floods.
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-kilometre trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine starts from Chasoti, located about 90 kilometres from Kishtwar town.
Rescue efforts were intensified with the deployment of nearly a dozen earth-movers by the civil administration and the use of specialized equipment and dog squads by the NDRF.
“After a long, tedious uphill drive, managed to reach the site of the cloudburst disaster in Kishtwar… very late, around midnight,” the Union Minister said in a social media post after the visit.
He was accompanied by the DGP and was briefed on the ongoing rescue and relief operations.
Meanwhile, explosives were used to blast giant boulders hampering the ongoing rescue and relief operations in the disaster-hit Chasoti village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on the third day on Saturday, officials said.
Army has also deployed additional troops to intensify the efforts, they said.
A total of 60 persons, including three CISF personnel and a Special Police Officer, have died and 82 people were reported missing in the cloudburst and the resultant flash floods that struck the remote village in Padder sub-division on Thursday afternoon. Around 167 people have been rescued so far, some critically injured.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited Chisoti village on Saturday morning and announced an ex-gratia assistance from the chief minister’s relief fund to the affected families as a “measure of solidarity and immediate relief”. He also assured them long-term support.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh, accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, also visited the devastated village late on Friday night and reviewed the ongoing rescue and relief efforts jointly carried out by the Police, Army, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Border Roads Organisation, civil administration, and local volunteers.
So far, 50 bodies have been identified and handed over to their next of kin after completion of legal formalities.
The disaster struck Chasoti — the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple — at around 12.25 pm on August 14. It flattened a makeshift market, a langar (community kitchen) site prepared for the yatra, and a security outpost.
At least 16 residential houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre-long bridge, and over a dozen vehicles were damaged in the flash floods which dumped giant boulders at various spots, especially around the worst-hit langar site.
Racing against time since the chances of digging out the survivors alive fade with every passing hour, the rescuers expedited the operation in the evening by using explosive substances to blast the oversized boulders that could not be shifted with earth-movers or other equipment.
Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, General Officer Commanding of Army’s Delta Force Major General A P S Bal, and CISF Deputy Inspector General M K Yadav also visited the village, while Jammu Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar, Jammu Inspector General of Police Bhim Sen Tuti, Kishtwar Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Sharma and Kishtwar Senior Superintendent of Police Naresh Singh are camping in the area to supervise the operation.
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-kilometre trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine starts from Chisoti, located about 90 kilometres from Kishtwar town.
Rescue efforts were intensified with the deployment of nearly a dozen earth-movers by the civil administration and the use of specialised equipment and dog squads by the National Disaster Relief Force. (WITH PTI INPUTS)
