Rescue ops continue in Paddar, one found alive after 30 hrs
*400 jawans, 38 machines involved in ops, yatra remains suspended
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Aug 16: While the rescue and relief operation at Chashoti village of remote Paddar Sub Division in Kishtwar district, where cloudburst caused massive devastation on Thursday, continues on war-footing, the death toll in the tragedy has mounted to 58 while more than 75 people are still missing.
Over 400 jawans of Army, NDRF, SDRF, CRPF, J&K Police, GREF (BRO) and volunteers from a few NGOs from Kishtwar and Doda besides 28 machines have been involved in the major joint rescue operation while senior officers including Deputy Commissioner, Kishtwar, SSP Naresh Singh, SDM Paddar- Amit Bhagat and SDPO Ravinder Parihar were constantly camping at the site and closely supervising the operation. Divisional, Commissioner Jammu and Inspector General of Police also visited and supervised the operation today.
Deputy Commissioner, Kishtwar, Pankaj Sharma said that five more dead bodies were recovered today from the debris and with this the death toll has reached up to 58. He said as per information received from many families with Paddar and Kishtwar police and help centres, more than 75 people are still missing.
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He further disclosed that more than 400 jawans from Army, Police, NDRF, SDRF, CISF, CRPF, GREF etc have been deployed on round the clock rescue operation. 23 JCBs, 3 excavators and three rock breakers were involved in the operation at the site. A temporary bridge has also been raised over a Nallah where a bridge was washed away due to flashflood after cloudburst. He said the help of two private construction companies IFCON and L&T was also sought.
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The Dy Commissioners further said that tents, ration, blankets, utensils etc were provided to the cloudburst hit families. He said senior officers also visited the site today and supervised the operation.
Officials said that explosives were used to blast big boulders hampering the ongoing rescue and relief operations in the disaster-hit Chashoti village on the third day.
Army has also deployed additional troops to intensify the efforts. A total of 58 persons, including three CISF personnel and a Special Police Officer (SPO), have died and over 75 people were reported missing in the cloudburst and the resultant flashfloods that struck the remote village in Padder Sub-Division on Thursday. Around 117 injured people have been rescued so far, some critically injured.
They said 73 injurted were shifted to GMC Jammu and 7 dead bodies were kept there in the mortuary. Five bodies were handed over to their families today while remaining two will be handed over tomorrow.
The disaster struck Chashoti the last motorable village enroute to the Machail Mata temple –at around 12.25 pm on August 14. It flattened a makeshift market, a langar (community kitchen) site prepared for the yatra, and a security outpost. The impact of the cloudburst was so massive that it created about 35 feet deep and nearly 500 ft wider crator at the site, the officials said. .
At least 13 residential houses and Government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre-long bridge, and over a dozen vehicles were damaged in the flashfloods which dumped big boulders at various spots, especially around the worst-hit Langar site.
Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, General Officer Commanding of Army’s Delta Force Major General A P S Bal, and CISF Deputy Inspector General M K Yadav also visited the village, while Jammu Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar and Inspector General of Police Bhim Sen Tuti are camping in the area to supervise the operation.
The annual Machail Mata yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the third consecutive day today. The 9 kms trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine starts from Chashoti located about 82 kms from Kishtwar town.
Rescue efforts were intensified with the deployment of nearly a dozen earth-movers by the civil administration and the use of specialised equipment and dog squads by the National Disaster Relief Force.
It was utter surprise to many when Langar operator Ramesh Chander hailing from Udhampur was found alive under the debris. He remained trapped beneath the debris for more than 30 hours.
Meanwhile, hundreds of pilgrims today converged at the Machail Mata temple and offered special prayers for the safety of the missing persons and for those who lost their lives in a cloudburst at Chashoti village in Kishtwar district on Thursday.
Locals and pilgrims assembled at the temple in large numbers today and paid homage to those killed in the tragic cloudburst.
Devotees also prayed for the safety of the missing persons and speedy recovery of those injured.
“We held special prayers to pay homage to the departed souls in the cloudburst catastrophe,” Surinder Kumar, a temple body member, said.
“This was the first time that such special prayers were held at the temple, which is some kilometres away from Chashoti,” he added.
Some pilgrims, who came from the spot of the cloudburst, said they are worried about some of their kin who are still missing.
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