ADG, Div Com visit ravaged Honzar village
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, July 30: Nineteen missing persons in cloudburst incident at Honzar village in Dachhan area of Kishtwar district are ‘feared dead’ as their relatives have left hopes of their survival, after 72 hours long rescue and search operation.
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Additional Director General of Police, Mukesh Singh, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu Dr Raghav Langar, DIG Ramban-Doda- Kishtwar Range Uday Bhaskar Billa and Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar, Ashok Sharma returned to Kishtwar town this evening after supervising rescue and relief operation and meeting affected families after two days of stay at the ravaged village.
There was acute shortage of drinking water and other essentials while power supply to the entire area has been snapped. The main foot- bridge to the area has also been washed away. The Administration has airlifted water, ration, relief material and other essential supplies to the village and a helicopter has been kept stand by at Kishtwar helipad for the purpose.
While one more team of SDRF along with Dog Squad arrived from Srinagar at Honzar village today, three more seriously injured persons were also airlifted to District Hospital Kishtwar this afternoon from Soundar PHC in Marwah-Dachhan Block. The victims have been identified as Nageena Begum (45), wife of Abdul Jabbar; Shama Begum (52), wife of Mohd Iqbal and Saddam Hussain (20), son of Mohd Jabbar, residents of Honzar.
Meanwhile, the district administration Kishtwar today released the list of 19 missing persons after taking feedback from all affected families and villagers of the area. Most of the shattered family members, have left any hope of the survival of their dear ones missing in the cloudburst incident of late Tuesday evening. The villagers and relatives along with police and SDRF/ NDRF teams are searching for the missing people for the last over 72 hours. So far, only seven dead bodies have been recovered from the area and 17 injured could be rescued. The teams also walked along the banks of the Nallah, down-stream for 4-5 kms.
Those missing were identified as, Saja Begum (60), wife of Ghulam Mohiuddin; Khursheed Ahmed (31), son of Mohd Iqbal; Fida Hussain (26), son of Mohd Ramzan; Mohd Sharif (40), son of Ghulam Rasool; Almina Tabassum (22), daughter Mohd Iqbal; Mata Begum (45), wife of Lala Tantray; Ghulam Mohd (70), son of Rasool; Fazal Hussain (18), son of Rustam Ali Chopan; Tariq Hussain ( 50), son of Nazir Ahmed; Zarina Begum (40), wife of Tariq Hussain; Mata Begum(45), wife of Ghulam Rasool; Fatima Begum (56), wife of Ghulam Ahmed; Bashir Ahmed (45), son of Rustam Ali; Begum (44), wife of Abdul Rehman; Sharifa Begum(38), wife of Ghulam Mohd; Shakir Hussain (22), son of Ghulam Ahmed; Ghulam Ahmed (65), son of Abdul Aziz; Zubaida Bano (25), daughter of Ghulam Ahmed and Khalid, son of Haji Ghani- all residents of Honzar village.
Official sources said that rescue operation to locate 19 people missing after a cloudburst was resumed this morning after remaining suspended for few hours due to rain and inclement weather last night.
Seven persons were found dead and 17 others were rescued in an injured condition after the remote Honzar village in Dacchan tehsil was hit by flash floods triggered by the cloudburst, damaging 21 houses, 21 cow sheds, a ration depot, a bridge and a mosque.
The search and rescue operation gained momentum on Thursday after the Indian Air Force (IAF) pressed three helicopters from Jammu, Srinagar and Udhampur and made eight sorties, transferring relief load of 2250 kgs, 44 NDRF and SRDF personnel and four medical assistants besides evacuating two critically injured persons from Soundar to Kishtwar for specialised treatment.
The official said no helicopter sorties from Kishtwar to Soundar could mature since 6 am on Friday due to inclement weather.
The IAF had stationed an MI-17 helicopter in stand-by mode at Kishtwar since Thursday, he said.
Six teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) with sophisticated equipment are involved in the operation along with other rescuers from police, Army and local volunteers, the officials said.
Meanwhile, an official spokesman said that Additional Director General of Police, Jammu, Mukesh Singh and Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Dr Raghav Langer personally supervised the rescue and relief operation in the cloudburst hit Hounzar village of Tehsil Dachhan during their two days visit to the area.
The officers trekked on foot for total 34 kms (both sides) to get the first hand information amidst difficult terrain and continuous rainfall.
Accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar Ashok Sharma; DIG DKR Range Uday Bhaskar Billa; SSP Kishtwar Shafqat Hussain Butt; ADC Kishtwar, Kishori Lal Sharma; SDM Marwah Dr Mohsin Raza, DFO Marwah, Vijay Kumar; Executive Engineer PMGSY Mohd Aslam Lone besides other officers, the team of officers supervised and monitored the rescue operation being conducted by the teams of SDRF, NDRF, Police, Military, District administration and locals.
The Div Com and ADGP conducted on-site inspection of devastation caused by flash floods which were triggered by excessive rain and cloudburst.
It was informed that seven people have died and several are reported as missing after the cloudburst hit the village. However, 17 people were rescued by the rescue teams and the survivors with serious injuries are undergoing treatment.
Indian Air Force (IAF) had pressed three helicopters from Jammu, Srinagar and Udhampur and made eight sorties, transferring relief load of 2250 kgs, 44 NDRF and SRDF personnel and four Medical Assistants besides evacuating two critically injured persons from Soundar to Kishtwar for specialised treatment.
Six teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) with sophisticated equipment are involved in the operation along with other rescuers from police, Army and local volunteers, the officials said.
During the visit officers met with the villagers and victims and also inquired about the operation being conducted by the rescue teams.
The locals demanded the constitution of a Rehabilitation Committee to facilitate the provision of Relief and Rehabilitation of the affected people in an efficient and transparent manner. They also demanded the employment to the next of kin of the deceased on immediate basis besides restoration of essential services like electricity, water supply and other relief measures.
The Div Com listened to their grievances and said that the government is at their doorstep to provide each and every possible relief in these tough times. He directed SDM Marwah to expedite the process of disbursement of compensation as per SDRF norms as already announced by UT Government to be deposited into the accounts of the victims on immediate basis.
Further, the DFO was directed to repair the damaged infrastructure likes bridges. He also asked heads of all the concerned department to assess the damages in livestock etc for necessary actions.
En-route, he also met with delegations at Suid and Sounder and listened their demands and suffering being faced by them. People demanded public health centre at Housar, establishment of Helipad at Honzar, besides timber for sufferers, special SPO recruitment and establishment of bank branch at Suid.
Meanwhile, district administration Kishtwar today sent two rescue teams to Chashoti in Paddar where about 150 Machail Mata pilgrims have been stuck due to another cloudburst and washing away of a bridge over Nallah there. SDM Paddar was supervising this operation.
Due to landslides at Thandapani near Sunderbani, the traffic on Jammu-Poonch highway remained suspended for more than four hours during morning hours today. A car also suffered minor damage in the incident but no loss of life was reported.
A Meteorological department official said the weather remained overcast with light rain at most places across Jammu and Kashmir.
“Same conditions are most likely to continue throughout the day. A brief spell of heavy showers may occur at some places which may trigger flash flood, mudslide and landslide,” the official said, advising people to remain alert and move away from vulnerable places.
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