From politicians and non-governmental organisations to locals, hundreds joined the rescue operations in Kishtwar as searches continue for the missing in the aftermath of cloudburst in Chishoti village in Kishtwar.
The death toll currently stands at 65. Of these, 49 bodies have been found, while others died on their way to hospitals, officials said. However, no bodies were found during the day as rescuers from the National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, the army, police and local volunteers continued to look for the missing.
J&K’s Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Javid Ahmad Dar said he would head to the site Saturday to assess the situation. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is already there, and will visit the site Saturday to oversee rescue.
With scores more still missing and many others injured and in hospitals, the death toll is likely to climb.
From J&K Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, and Kishtwar District Development Council chairperson Pooja Thakur to local NGO Ababeel, people across political and religious lines came forward to help with the rescue.
Sharma, accompanied by Kishtwar MLA Shagun Parihar, who arrived joined the rescuers. Meanwhile, Ababeel, a local NGO, had pressed its ambulances for carrying the victims to the hospitals in Atholi, Kishtwar and Doda.
As searches continued, several people were separated from the family, with locals opening their doors for them. The flash flood left thousands stranded on their way to the temple, with locals stepping in to help them with food and shelter.
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Meanwhile, locals too were affected — a video showed Kishtwar DDC Chairperson Pooja Thakur bringing home a group of children after their family went missing in the floods.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has augmented health care facilities at the Atholi sub-district hospital and the Kishtwar district hospital. Official sources said that a specialised team of specialists and neurosurgeons have been sent to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, and 13 other doctors and 31 paramedics have been dispatched to the 30-bedded SDH in Atholi.
Doctors have also been sent to the district hospital at Kishtwar.
“The tertiary care institutions have also been put in a state of full readiness. Senior officers from the health and medical education department are stationed in Paddar to oversee rescue and medical operations,” one official said, over 200 units of blood have been made available at GMC, Jammu, for emergency.
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In the aftermath of the flash flood, religious organisations in Jammu have announced that Janmashtami celebrations would be muted this year. The traditional jhankis for the Hindu God Krishna, usually organised on the eve of Janmashtami, were cancelled.
“We took a decision Thursday evening as people everywhere are in shock and grief over the tragedy,” said Satish Kotwal, president of the Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Bhaderwah.
Cloudbursts have not been new to the hilly Chenab Valley region. In April, three people died in flash floods that damaged residential and commercial properties, and a portion of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. In July 2022, several roads and vehicles parked in Doda’s Thathri were damaged in a cloudburst. Flash floods in Kishtwar’s Honzer village in July 2021 claimed over two dozen lives.
