LG expresses grief over Katra, Poonch tragedies
Boulder falls on Govt School; student dies, 4 hurt
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, July 21: A massive landslide struck the old track to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district, leaving one pilgrim dead and at least 10 persons including five pilgrims, injured; a student was killed and four others wounded when a boulder fell on a Government school in Poonch district while a Dy Superintendent of Police was hurt as a rock fell on a moving private car near a Tunnel , ahead of Ban Toll Plaza on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway today.
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Official sources said that a booking office and an overhead iron structure caved in under the weight of the landslide, triggered by heavy rains which lashed Katra town, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting the shrine on Trikuta hills of Mata Vaishnodevi. The yatra to the shrine was suspended as a precautionary measure immediately after the incident.
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They said the incident took place at around 8.30 am near Gulshan Ka Langar near Banganga, the starting point for the Yatra where mostly pony riders gather along the old track and register before taking the pilgrims to the cave shrine, 4 km from the town.
“The landslide caused serious injuries to the three persons and minor injuries to seven others. All the injured were rescued and taken to local hospital,” a senior officer from Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said.
He said that officials from the Board rushed to the scene and launched rescue operation with the assistance of police, CRPF and SDRF teams. An earth-mover was also rushed to speed up the rescue efforts.
The critically injured, Kappan Srinivas (70) resident of Chennai, his wife K Radha (66), and Rajinder Bhalla (70) of Haryana — were admitted in Narayan hospital, while Leela Raikwar (56) of Uttar Pradesh was undergoing treatment at Community Health Centre Katra, the officials said.
They said Suresh Kumar (66) from Pune, Maharashtra and two locals- Nikhil Thakur (26) and Vicky Sharma were discharged after first- aid. However, Kappan Sriniwas later succumbed to his injuries at Narayana hospital, an official said.
“I was inside the booking office when stones started hitting the overhead iron structure and we alerted others and rushed out fearing a landslide,” Nikhil said after receiving treatment for his foot injury at Katra hospital.
He said there was a small group of devotees and pony riders at the scene in view of heavy rains.
According to the meteorological department, Katra town recorded 184.2 mm of rainfall over the past 24 hours ending 8.30 am Monday.
Jammu was colder than Srinagar today as the Temple city today recorded at maximum temperature of 29.0 degrees Celsius while Srinagar 34.9 deg C temperature. The day temperature of Bhaderwah and Gulmarg was equal on Monday in view of the heavy rain during morning hours at tourist resort of Jammu region.
Reports from Poonch said that in a tragic incident today, a large rock followed by landslide rolled down from a mountain and fell on the building of Government Primary School (GPS), Kalsian, situated in Ward No 4, of village Bhainch, in Tehsil Haveli of district Poonch, resulting in the death of a minor student and injuries to four other children.
Officials said that all the injured children were brought to District Hospital Poonch. The deceased has been identified as Ehsan Ali, aged 5 years, son of Mohd Razaq, resident of Kalsian, Bhainch Panchayat.
The injured children have been identified as Mohammad Safeer, age 7, son of Mohammad Shareef, resident of Kalsian Bhainch; Bilal Farooq, age 8 yrs, son of Farooq Ahmed, resident of Bhainch; Aftab Ahmed, age 6 yrs, son of Idress Ahmed, resident of Bhainch and Tobia Kouser, age 7 yrs, daughter of Basharat Hussain, resident of Bhainch.
Medical Superintendent District Hospital Poonch, Dr Shafiq said that one student was brought dead while four other injured were treated and kept under observation here.
Immediately after receiving the information about the incident, Deputy Commissioner Vikas Kundal visited the Maharaja Sukhdev Singh District Hospital, where the injured children were being treated. The Deputy Commissioner met with the victims and their families and directed the medical team to provide the best possible treatment to ensure speedy recovery of the children.
As immediate relief, the Deputy Commissioner disbursed financial assistance under the Red Cross Fund, to the tune of Rs 1,00,000 to the family of the deceased child and Rs 50,000 each to the families of the injured children.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has expressed grief over the incident at Katra Mata Vaishnodevi and said he was monitoring the situation.
“I am deeply saddened by the tragic landslide incident at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in which a devotee unfortunately lost his life. Directed Shrine Board to provide best possible medical care and support to the injured pilgrims. I’m constantly monitoring the situation,” Sinha wrote on X.
The LG also condoled the tragic death of a school boy due to rockslide which crashed into Govt Primary School, Kalsian in District Poonch. Sinha has conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family in this hour of grief.
“The news of the death of a 5-year-old child due to rockslide which crashed into Primary School, Kalsian, Poonch is heart-rending. May God give strength to the bereaved parents to bear this shock. I pray for the speedy recovery of other children injured in this incident”, the Lieutenant Governor said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, in a post on X, extended his condolences to the bereaved family and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
He said he has directed the administration to ensure proper treatment of the injured and to conduct a thorough inquiry into the incident.
Meanwhile, a Police officer was injured on Monday after his private car was hit by a boulder/ landslide triggered by rain, just closer to a tunnel near in Ban Toll Plaza tody.
The Probationary DySP (A A Bakshi) was on his way to his native place in Valley. He was posted in district Samba. The landslide damaged his car outside a tunnel near the Ban Toll Plaza in Nagrota area along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, a police official said.
The officer was rescued and shifted to a hospital where his condition was stated to be stable.
The car suffered extensive damage in the incident. The landslide also blocked a part of the highway. Then traffic of both the sides was diverted to the single tunnels for some time. It also created traffic jam for some time.
Meanwhile, heavy rain in Jammu, Poonch, Katra-Reasi, Udhampur, Doda and Bhaderwah, parts of Kathua, besides other parts of the region created havoc. Chenab, Tawi, Ujh and several other rivers and Nallahs were flooded. The rain also caused multiple landslides and created traffic suspension. It also caused drop in the temperature at many places.
The water level in river Chenab at Akhnoor was 29 ft between 1 pm to 2 pm today while maximum water level in Tawi at Jammu was 10 ft between 2 and 3 pm today. After 3 pm the water level started receding.
A MeT spokesman said that during past 24 hours, Katra received 184.2 m rain fall, Jammu 31.6 mm , Bhaderwah 23.8 mm, Batote 16.9 mm and Banihal received 3.9 mm rainfall.
He predicted intermittent spells of light to moderate rain / thunder shower/ gusty winds at many places and heavy to heavy rain at isolated places of the Jammu Division on July 22. He said on July 23-24 the weather will remain generally cloudy with intermittent spells of light to moderate rain / thundershower at a few places with heavy rain at isolated places across J&K. From July 25-27 the weather will remain hot and humid with possibility of brief rain at a few places, he added.
The weatherman has indicated the possibility of flash floods, rising of water level in the rivers/streams/ Nallahs and land/ mud-slides and falling of boulders during next two-three days.
In view of the inclement weather as predicted by the MeT office, the district administrations Poonch and Reasi have ordered closure of government and private schools on July 22.
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