Financial aid for victims, damages announced
Excelsior Correspondent
CHASHOTI, Aug 16: The anger of people seeking information about their kin missing in the aftermath of a cloudburst is quite understandable, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said today after several locals confronted him in Chashoti and vented their frustration.
He said the focus of the rescue operation right now is to find those still trapped under the debris.
A coordinated rescue and relief operation is underway in the village where 70 to 80 people have been reported missing by their families, even as locals and witnesses claim that hundreds may have been swept away by the flash flood and buried under giant boulders, wooden logs, and rubble.
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Abdullah reached the cloudburst-hit Chashoti, the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple in the Kishtwar district, by car this morning and faced some people who were not happy with the rescue and relief efforts.
After being briefed by a senior Army officer and assessing the damage, the Chief Minister met several affected families on both sides of the stream, which is connected by a makeshift bridge made of logs.
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Several hundred people vented their frustration in front of Abdullah, who tried to calm them down, saying he himself wants the rescue operation to be over as soon as possible.
The Chief Minister also invited them to a nearby tent to listen to their grievances, but some of them were reluctant. Following this, Abdullah left the scene.
“I can understand their anger. They have been waiting for their missing family members for the past two days. They want an answer. They want to know if their family members will come out alive or not,” he told reporters on his return journey.
The Chief Minister said the demand of the people is that if those missing are no longer alive, then the bodies should be handed over to them at the earliest for the last rites.
“We have deployed as many forces as we could, whether it is the NDRF, SDRF, Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police or the CISF. We are trying to rescue the trapped people. And where there is no rescue, we will at least retrieve the bodies and hand them over to their families,” Abdullah said.
“At the moment, it is not really a relief operation. We are focusing on rescuing people as far as possible. After that, the aim would be to retrieve the bodies to the best extent possible.”
He said the death toll is around 60, while the number of missing people is between 70 and 80. “The number will fluctuate a little, but I do not think the number will reach 500 or 1,000 as is being projected. At the moment, it is 80, which is also a big number.”
The Chief Minister said immediate relief has been distributed to people whose homes have been partially or totally damaged.
“If I am not mistaken, about Rs 36 lakh that the Deputy Commissioner had at his disposal has already been distributed. I have spoken to the Additional Chief Secretary in my office and instructed him to immediately release money from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund so that it can be put at the disposal of the Deputy Commissioner,” he said.
Asked if there are plans to shift the affected families to safety, the Chief Minister said there is no plan, but such a demand was raised by some villagers.
“To shift or not to shift, in what conditions to shift, where to shift, for that, I think a team of experts should come and tell us. What if we pick them up from here and put them in a place where there will be more danger? Can we give them a place nearby where they can live and there is less danger? We will consider all these things,” he added.
Omar expressed concern over the recent natural calamities in the Union Territory, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and called for consultation with experts to see what can be done to “mitigate the risks and dangers”.
He said the entire Himalayan belt is now more prone to glacial lake bursts and cloudbursts.
He was responding to a question about possibility of forming a team of experts by his government to safeguard the fragile ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We are going to have a look at it. It is not just what is happening in J-K. Look at the scary videos that we saw from Uttarakhand. What is happening in Himachal? We are all now, I think, prone to these glacial lake bursts and cloudbursts. To this freak vague weather, we will have to collectively and individually consult experts to see what we can do to mitigate the risks and the dangers of these things,” Abdullah said.
Asked whether his Government will regulate pilgrimages in the mountainous regions, he said that earlier these yatras were restricted to small groups of pilgrims ranging between 100 and 400 but now thousands of people are visiting.
“Obviously, after seeing the changing patterns of the weather, we will have to think about a little more regulation, registration, etc. But if I make an announcement today, then it will be a mistake on my part because people’s religious emotions are also involved in this,” he said.
“We have to consult the religious leader, the people who are associated with these local pilgrimages, and take some steps,” Abdullah said.
He said though around 80 person were reported missing in the flash floods triggered by cloudburst, it is not the final number.
“Some people might have no mobile coverage or stopped halfway due to the circumstances (cloudburst). So do not take it (missing figures) as the final number. It will keep changing from time to time,” the CM said.
He said the flash floods brought down big rocks and “where we are standing used to be a river (bank). This was not a lake. It is a river, which has changed into a lake after the recent cloudburst. Some people washed away by the flash flood cannot be ruled out and our efforts are to find them and retrieve their bodies so that these could be handed over to their families”.
Omar yesterday said he has briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a devastating cloudburst in a remote village in Kishtwar district .
“I just received a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I briefed him about the situation in Kishtwar and the steps being taken by the administration,” Abdullah wrote in a post on X.
He said his Government and the people hit by the tragic cloudburst are grateful for the Prime Minister’s support and all the assistance provided by the Centre.
Upon his arrival at Chashoti, Omar was briefed by Army personnel and used a virtual reality headset to assess the scale of destruction.
The Chief Minister, who reached Kishtwar on Friday evening, traveled by road to the affected village early Saturday morning.
He was accompanied by his Advisor Nasir Aslam Wani, Chairman District Development Council Pooja Thakur, MLA Inderwal Pyarelal Sharma, MLA Ramban Arjun Singh Raju, former minister Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo, besides Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Inspector General of Police Jammu, Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar, SSP Kishtwar, and other senior civil and police officers.
Expressing profound sorrow over the tragic loss of lives and widespread damage, the Chief Minister assured the people that the Government stands firmly with them in this hour of grief.
As a measure of solidarity and immediate relief, the Chief Minister announced ex-gratia assistance from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
He said the families of those who lost their lives would receive financial support of Rs 2 lakh each, while those who sustained severe injuries would be given Rs 1 lakh and those with minor injuries Rs 50,000. Similarly, for structural damages, he announced Rs 1 lakh for fully damaged houses, Rs 50,000 for severely damaged ones, and Rs 25,000 for partially damaged structures.
He also issued directions for the immediate restoration of essential infrastructure in the affected areas. During the visit, the Chief Minister met the bereaved families and those affected by the tragedy, prayed for the departed souls, and assured the people that his Government will extend not only immediate assistance but also long-term rehabilitation to help them rebuild their lives.
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