Sajid Raina
Srinagar, Aug 16: Two days after a cloudburst hit Chasoti village in Kishtwar district, rescuers on Saturday used explosives to break massive boulders that were blocking access to the worst-hit sites, as anxious relatives clung to fading hope on the third day of the search for the missing.
Officials said 82 people, including 81 pilgrims and a CISF personnel, remain untraced, while 60 persons among them three CISF personnel and a Special Police Officer have been confirmed dead. Around 167 others have been rescued, several with critical injuries. So far, 50 bodies have been identified and handed over to families after legal formalities.
The cloudburst, which struck around 12.25 pm on August 14, triggered flash floods that swept away a makeshift market, a community kitchen set up for the Machail Mata yatra, and a security outpost.
At least 16 houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre bridge and over a dozen vehicles were also damaged. Giant rocks carried by the water remain scattered across the village.
With chances of survival narrowing by the hour, police, Army, NDRF, SDRF, BRO, civil administration and local volunteers have intensified the search. Nearly a dozen earth-movers have been deployed, and specialised NDRF teams with dog squads are working on the ground.
Officials said blasting was unavoidable to clear oversized boulders that machinery could not move.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who visited Chasoti on Saturday, announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to families of those killed, Rs 1 lakh for the grievously injured and Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries. For structural losses, he announced Rs 1 lakh for fully damaged houses, Rs 50,000 for severely damaged and Rs 25,000 for partially damaged ones.
“This is only a measure of solidarity and immediate relief. The government will extend all possible help both immediate and long-term to the affected families,” Omar said, after meeting the bereaved and walking through the devastated village. Several residents welcomed his visit, saying it gave them “some relief” amid despair.
Across districts, grief deepened as relatives waited for news. In Benagarh village near Jammu, seven residents including four children are missing; only one body has been recovered so far. In Samba district, a woman and her two daughters are among eight missing from Sarai village, while six members of a family from Vijaupur are also untraced.
From Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, at least eight pilgrims have not been heard from since Thursday; one from Himachal Pradesh is also missing.
The tragedy has cast a shadow on the annual Machail Mata yatra, which was suspended for the third consecutive day on Saturday.
The trek, which began on July 25 and was to conclude on September 5, starts from Chisoti, the last motorable point before the 9,500-foot shrine, 90 km from Kishtwar town.
With the search continued into the night, senior officials including Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Army’s Delta Force GOC Major General A P S Bal, and CISF DIG M K Yadav were present in Chisoti, while Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar, IGP Jammu Bhim Sen Tuti, DC Pankaj Kumar Sharma and SSP Naresh Singh camped on site to oversee operations.
For relatives like the parents of Vanshika and Disha from Jammu, however, official assurances bring little comfort. “I saw my world crashing before my eyes. My daughters have gone away from me,” their mother said through tears. Her husband, who has searched hospitals and mortuaries, added: “I have seen a headless body, but that was not my daughters.”
