Day 7: Kishtwar toll at 65, as search for the remains of those missing continues

The ongoing search efforts around the cloudburst-affected Chositi village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district continued for the seventh straight day on 20 August, Wednesday, with the death toll up to 65 after the recovery of two more bodies this morning.

The union territory's principal secretary (home) Chandraker Bharti convened a meeting with various agencies for an update, after evaluating the situation on the ground. Bharti was the first among the 10 IAS and IPS officers instructed by the lieutenant governor to visit the disaster zone over the eight days to oversee relief-and-rescue activities.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, who had made his own trip to speak to local officials and the people, had told the media yesterday that now, the chances of finding any more of the 70-odd missing persons alive had dwindled to nil. "The effort now is for us to, at the very least, return the bodies of those deceased to their family members for their last rites to be properly undertaken," he had said ruefully.

He mentioned too that representatives of the local people had placed 3–4 requests before the government, which were being reviewed and would be acted upon. The local administration would do all that was possible to extend help to the affected, he promised.

The death toll from the disaster — which struck the last motorable village on the way to the Machail Mata temple during the annual yatra on 14 August — has increased to 65, including three CISF members and one special police officer (SPO) from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, as of this morning. More than 100 individuals sustained injuries, and 39 remain unaccounted for, officials said.

The search on Day 7 started with early morning showers, but as the sun came out, rescuers fanned out to try and locate the missing persons whose bodies might to be buried under the rubble or washed downstream.

Tuesday, 19 August, had already seen the search operation expanded to encompass the full 22 km expanse of the stream between Chositi and Gulabgarh, prompted by the recovery of two bodies downstream in recent days, the official shared.

Rescue teams are stationed at several locations now, focusing especially on the primary zone of impact near the langar (community kitchen) site, where they are clearing debris using heavy equipment such as earth movers and employing sniffer dogs.

Yesterday, the chief minister had mentioned efforts to prevent and monitor GLOF (glacial lake outburst flood) events — but also noted that experts seemed to believe this a case of simple cloudburst, however. He added that the administration would make efforts to map more vulnerable areas and take preventive action — both against loss of life (as in Kishtwar) and material losses (as was the predominant case in Ramban).

The flash floods set off by the cloudburst resulted in widespread devastation in Kishtwar, true — destroying a temporary market and a langar site for the Machail Mata yatra, damaging 16 homes and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30m bridge and over a dozen vehicles — and yet it was the loss of life that was more severe.

The rescue efforts currently are being shared by joint teams from the police, Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), CISF, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), civil administration and local volunteers.

To facilitate the search, rescuers have executed at least six controlled blasts to remove the enormous boulders that had been obstructing their progress. On 17 August, Sunday, Army engineers constructed a Bailey bridge across the Chositi nullah, restoring vital links to the village and the Machali Mata shrine. The Army has also introduced a few all-terrain vehicles.

The Machail Mata yatra, which commenced on 25 July and was slated to close on 5 September, remained suspended for the seventh day in a row as of Wednesday. Nonetheless, officials will allow a small group of devotees carrying the ‘charri’ from Jammu, who are expected to reach the shrine on 21 or 22 August.

The pilgrimage involves an 8.5 km trek to the 9,500 ft shrine, beginning at Chositi, situated roughly 90 km from Kishtwar town.

With PTI inputs