CHISOTI (JK), Aug 19: The death toll in the devastating cloudburst at Chisoti village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district rose to 64 on Tuesday after the recovery of one more body as rescue operations entered the sixth day, officials said.
The decomposed body was recovered downstream during intensified search operations, aided by an improvement in weather conditions. Sniffer dogs also helped trace the lower body part of another victim under the debris of a collapsed house. Officials, however, believe it belongs to a person whose remains were already recovered on the first day of the disaster.
Rescue teams, working at multiple locations, continue to focus on the major impact zone near a langar (community kitchen) site. Using heavy machinery, earth movers, and dog squads, they are sifting through massive piles of rubble left behind by the flash floods triggered by the August 14 cloudburst.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (SDRF) Masoof Ahmad Mirza said the operation is being carried out on a “war footing.” He added, “We have cleared a large area upstream and now we are sending a team downstream as well. The impact area of the cloudburst is vast and that is why it is taking time.”
According to officials, a total of 167 persons have been rescued so far, while the number of missing people has been revised to 39. The dead include three CISF personnel and one Special Police Officer (SPO) of the J&K Police.
The Army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps, in a statement on Monday, said five relief columns are actively engaged in the operation, backed by additional medical teams. Army engineers have also constructed a Bailey bridge over the Chisoti nullah, restoring vital connectivity to the village and to the Machail Mata shrine. All-terrain vehicles have been deployed to strengthen relief efforts.
Over the past three days, rescuers carried out more than half a dozen controlled explosions to clear massive boulders obstructing the search. Heavy losses were reported in the flash floods, which flattened a makeshift market, destroyed a langar site set up for the annual Machail Mata yatra, damaged 16 houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre bridge, and more than a dozen vehicles.
The yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the sixth consecutive day. However, authorities confirmed that a special group of devotees carrying the traditional ‘Charri’ from Jammu will be allowed to proceed towards the shrine on August 21 or 22.
The 8.5-km trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine begins from Chisoti, the last motorable village about 90 km from Kishtwar town.
Joint teams of the Army, police, NDRF, SDRF, CISF, BRO, civil administration and local volunteers remain engaged in the massive rescue and relief mission, with more than a dozen earth movers and specialised dog squads pressed into service to trace the missing.
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