Kishtwar, Aug 19, CNS: The death toll in the devastating cloudburst that struck Chisoti village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district has climbed to 64 after the body of a woman was recovered on Tuesday morning.
Officials said the decomposed body was spotted downstream and later retrieved by rescuers as operations resumed with improved weather conditions. In a parallel development, sniffer dogs helped trace the lower body part of another victim from beneath the debris of a collapsed house. However, investigators believe it belongs to a person whose body had already been recovered on the first day of the calamity.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, SDRF, Masoof Ahmad Mirza said that the search and rescue operation continues at war footing across a vast stretch of the affected area. “We have cleared a large portion upstream and now teams are being dispatched downstream to widen the search,” he said.
The flash floods, triggered by the August 14 cloudburst in Chisoti—the last motorable village on the Machail Mata route—swept away a langar site, a makeshift market, and several homes. The tragedy also claimed the lives of three Central Industrial Security Force personnel and a Special Police Officer.
A total of 167 people have been rescued since the disaster, while the number of missing persons has now been revised to 39. Rescue efforts are being jointly carried out by police, Army, NDRF, SDRF, CISF, BRO, civil administration, and local volunteers.
The Army’s White Knight Corps said five relief columns remain deployed, supported by additional medical teams and all-terrain vehicles. Engineers have constructed a Bailey bridge across Chisoti nullah, restoring connectivity to the affected village and the Machail Mata shrine. Controlled explosions have also been carried out over the past three days to remove massive boulders obstructing the search.
The disaster left widespread destruction, damaging 16 houses, three temples, government buildings, four water mills, a 30-metre-long bridge, and more than a dozen vehicles.
The Machail Mata yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, has been suspended for six days. Authorities, however, confirmed that a group of devotees carrying the holy ‘Charri’ from Jammu will be allowed to proceed and is expected to reach the shrine on August 21 or 22.
Rescue agencies are employing over a dozen earth-movers, heavy equipment, and specialised dog squads of the NDRF to speed up the operation. (CNS)
