The search and rescue operation in the cloudburst-hit Chesoti village of Kishtwar continued for the 7th day to search for the missing persons on Wednesday while the distressed families were looking for their missing one.
The search operation has been extended to cover the entire 22-km stretch of the stream from Chisoti to Gulabgarh, following the recovery of two bodies downstream over the past two days.
The rescue teams are working at multiple locations, especially the major impact spot near a langar site, sifting through the debris using heavy machinery, including earth movers and sniffer dogs.
The death toll in the calamity that struck the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple on August 14 during the yatra has reached 67. Over 100 people were injured and dozens are still missing.
“The search on day seven started with early morning showers but later the sun came out and the rescuers fanned out on the assigned locations to look for the missing persons believed to be buried under the rubble or washed away in the stream,” an SDRF official said.
The flash-floods triggered by the cloudburst has left a trail of destruction, flattening a makeshift market, a langar site for the annual Machail Mata yatra, damaging 16 houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre-long bridge, besides over a dozen vehicles.
The joint teams of police, army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), CISF, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), civil administration, and local volunteers are engaged in the rescue efforts.
Army has built a Bailey bridge over Chisoti nullah, providing much-needed connectivity to the village and the Machail Mata shrine. The Army has also inducted a couple of all-terrain vehicles as part of the efforts to intensify the rescue and relief operation.
The rescuers have also conducted over half a dozen controlled explosions to blow up giant boulders hampering the search.
The annual Machail Mata yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the seventh consecutive day on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the distressed families continue to search for their missing loved ones.
Ravi Kumar, a resident from Jammu, is searching for his sister and other family members after losing his elder sister in the disaster.
“I have come from Jammu to find my family members missing after the incident. My sister, her children, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law are missing. My elder sister died in the Kishtwar cloud burst incident,” he said.
“We pray that our missing family members return alive,” he said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah yesterday said that it might be impossible to find anyone alive in the Kishtwar incident.
“In these circumstances, we will try to retrieve as many bodies and hand them over to their loved ones,” he said.