Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said there was little hope of finding any survivors from the cloudburst hit Chesoti village of Kishtwar and a team of experts will be set up to find out the areas that are at most risk to prevent such tragedies in future.
“Kishtwar situation is before you. With every passing day, the hope for the survival of the 70 missing persons is fading away. Our focus will now be on retrieving the bodies and handing them to their families so that they can perform the final rites,” Omar told reporters here.
He said his government will provide whatever help possible to the affected persons.
“Whatever help we have to provide, we will do as much as possible. They had put a few things before me when I was there, and we will consider it,” the CM said.
He said Kishtwar did not happen due to a glacial lake burst but due to a cloudburst.
“We will have to set up a team of experts to find out the areas that are at most risk. A few months ago, we saw a similar incident at Ramban. That time we had a lot of material damage, but the loss of lives was less. This time the loss of lives is more as a yatra was going on and the cloudburst happened. We will have to get an expert view on how to prevent such incidents and if these happen, how to minimise the losses,” he said.
Cloudburst struck Chisoti, the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple, on August 14, triggering flash-floods that left a trail of destruction, flattening a makeshift market, a langar site for the annual Machail Mata yatra, and damaging several houses and government buildings.
The death toll has risen to 66. A total of 167 persons were rescued, while many others are still missing.