Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, June 30: A Vaishnodevi pilgrim was killed and seven other devotees were injured when a boulder fell down on the yatra track near shrine today while a girl student was washed away in flooded Neeru river and three other girls were rescued in Bhaderwah area this morning whereas, Jammu-Srinagar National Highway which was blocked due to massive land slides in Udhampur and Ramban last mid night was restored today after 10 hours.
Due to heavy rain during last night, most of the rivers and nallahs across the region, were swollen with the flood. The land and mud-sides at Bali Nallah and near Chenani -Nashri Tunnel in Udhampur area and also near Mehar, Seri, Panthial, Battery Chashma etc, causing massive blockade and disruption in movement of traffic for about 10 hours on this busy highway. Batote-Doda-Kishtwar highway also remained blocked for several hours and was restored within few hours by the authorities. .
While highway near Udhampur was cleared at around 11 am, the road near Ramban and Ramsu area was restored at around 1 pm. The movement of all type of vehicles including those of pilgrims, remained stalled at Nagrota Bypass, Udhampur TCP and even in Jammu. Only light motor vehicles towards Kashmir were restored after the highway was cleared. All type of vehicles from Srinagar to Jammu were allowed after the highway was restored in the afternoon. Around 400 vehicles were reported to have been stranded on Udhampur-Dhar Road.
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Report from Katra said that a land slide triggered by rain en-route the cave shrine Mata Vaishnodevi in district Reasi left a woman dead and seven other pilgrims injured at around 12.15 pm today. Official sources said that a big boulder hit foot track near Devi Dwar on Himkoti Marg near Shrine, killing one pilgrim on the spot and causing injuries to seven others.
The woman pilgrim, who was crushed to death under the boulder was identified as Suman (32), wife of Rajveer, resident of Bithwana in Rewari district of Haryana. Her body was later removed from the debris and shifted to CHC, Katra. Seven other injured were rushed to Adh-Kuwari Hospital and then to Katra base camp.
CEO Shrine Board AK Sahu said that immediately after the incident, the Himkoti track was closed till the ‘mulba’ is cleared and an assessment regarding safety of the track is made by concerned officials. He said that arrangements were made for the shifting of the dead body of the deceased to her home town and an assistance of Rs 3 lakh is being paid to the next of kin of the deceased pilgrim.
The injured were identified as- Tanvi (6), daughter of Yogender Kumar from Bawal in Rewari in Haryana; Yogender Kumar (38), Asha Devi (38), wife of Girijesh Sahni from Bhagwatpur in Madhubani district of Bihar, Girijesh Sahni (42); Rajveer, son of Ami Lal from Rewari Haryana and Saksham , son of Satpal from Bathwana, Rewari.
Sahu said that immediately after hearing about the incident he along with Additional CEO, Dr M K Kumar and team of doctors and X-En Shrine Board rushed at the site and supervised the rescue operation. The Police, CRPF and Disaster Management Team of Shrine Board removed the debris and cleared the track. The injured were removed to nearby dispensary and then to the base camp hospital. Some critically injured victims were shifted to Narayana Hospital, he said.
Meanwhile, Governor N N Vohra who is Chairman of the Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board while expressing grief over the tragedy, directed the CEO to arrange for an ex-gratia support of Rs 3 lakh to the family of the deceased. He also directed the CEO for conducting survey of the track by utilizing the services of experts from Geological Survey of India.
Reports from Bhaderwah said that a 12th class student was washed away in flooded Neeru river while three other girls were saved when they slipped down from a long wooden log, being used as foot bridge by people over Neeru river this morning. It was raining and the girls were crossing the temporary bridge. While, one of the girls, was washed away three other girls were saved by the villagers after hectic efforts. They got injured and were removed to hospital. The body of the deceased girl could not be recovered even after long search operation by Police, Fire Servicemen, family members-relatives and villagers of the area downstream.
The deceased girl was identified as Sheetal Bharti, daughter of Satish Kumar, resident of Trown village near Doda. The rescued girls were removed to SDH Bhaderwah for treatment. They are- Shakti Bharti ( student of BA-Part-I), daughter of Satish Kumar Bharti; Anam ( BA Part-III student), daughter of Ashiq Hussain from Butla village and Sarika, daughter of Om Parkash from Gagrota.
SHO Jatinder Singh Sambyal and Executive Magistrate Bhaderwah Masood Ahmed said that five teams of police were deployed to trace the girl but could not succeed till this evening. She is believed to have washed down to river Chanab as there was heavy flood in river Neeru this morning.
Later, the people from Sartingal, Gagrota, Trown villages held strong protest against Administration and Government alleging that despite long pending demand of the people to construct a foot bridge, nothing has been done in this regard. They said on earlier occasions also, two such incidents took place but the Administration and even the local MLA/ MLC remained unmoved. They also raised slogans against them.
Report from Kishtwar and Gandoh said that massive flood in nallah, coming from Gandoh and Kahra sides caused damage to the machinery and allied works at 48 MW Power project Lower Kalanei-Donadi. Coastral Construction Company has been engaged at work there. Machines and infrastructure got damaged in the flood, a senior Project Manager said. Doda -Kishtwar road which was blocked in Kandni area was also restored after few hours. It was clear when the last reports came in. Udhampur-Ramnagar road was also blocked for some time due to land slides but was cleared after two hours. The power supply to many areas has been affected due to rain.
In Jammu city also, the heavy rain during last night caused water logging at many places. The flooded drain and nallah water entered many city localities. No major loss of property or life was reported from Jammu city or its surroundings since last night due to rains and floods. Tawi was over flooded but it was flowing down the alert mark this morning.
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