Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 21: Family members of Chisoti cloudburst tragedy victims here today staged a protest demonstration demanding issuance of death certificate of their loved ones killed in the cloudburst in August last year. They also expressed dismay over the non-issuance of DNA report for which they had given samples last year so that the deceased persons could be identified.
Rajesh Kumar and Bindiya from Jalandhar (Punjab) said that their 22-year-old daughter along with her friend went missing after the cloudburst.
Another family from Jammu has lost eight members in the tragedy said they were not asking for compensation but demanding death certificates of their loved ones so that rituals could be performed properly for the deceased persons.
The delay in DNA reports is adding to the grief of the relatives of the tragedy victims.
The devastating cloudburst struck Chisoti village, gateway to Machail Mata temple, on August 14, 2025, killing 65 people, mostly pilgrims and leaving more than 30 missing.
Holding photographs of their daughter Vanshika and her friend Disha, Rajesh Kumar and Bindiya were among the several protesters demanding justice.
They claimed that the authorities have stated that the DNA tests were not conducted as there was no sufficient chemical available for the same.
Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Resham Garh Colony in Jammu, lost eight of his relatives, including two sisters, in the tragedy said: “We have only retrieved one body, while seven people, three women and four children still remained missing.”
He said that his sister and her two children, a seven-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy were among those missing.
Kumar claimed mismanagement by the concerned authorities from the day one of the tragedy.
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