KV News

Kishtwar cloudburst: Search on for survivors continues

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page

Jammu: Rescue operations were underway on Thursday to trace 20 people missing after a cloudburst hit Honzar village in Kishtwar district with authorities pressing more teams into action.
Seven persons were found dead and 17 others were rescued in an injured condition after the remote village was struck by the cloudburst in the early hours of Wednesday, damaging 21 houses, cow sheds, a ration depot, a bridge and a mosque.
The officials said the joint rescue operation by police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) is going on in full swing to locate the missing people, including nine women.
Director General of Police-cum-Commandant General Home Guard, Civil Defence and SDRF, V K Singh said a team comprising SDRF and NDRF personnel left Jammu at 5:45 AM by road for Kishtwar, while another joint team is leaving Srinagar shortly to join the rescue operation.
Two more teams comprising SDRF and NDRF personnel are at the Jammu and Srinagar airports waiting for the weather to improve to get airlifted, he said.
He said three teams of the SDRF have already joined the rescue effort and efforts are on to locate the missing persons.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) made an attempt to airlift one of the teams on Wednesday but returned to the technical airport in Jammu due to inclement weather.
Additional Director General of Police, Jammu zone, Mukesh Singh rushed to Kishtwar by road on Wednesday night and visited the injured persons at district hospital, a police official said.
Singh along with divisional commissioner Jammu Raghav Langer was also on board the IAF chopper which attempted to take the SDRF team to the affected village.
The Jammu and Kashmir government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the incident and Rs 50,000 each and Rs 12,700 under SDRF to the grievously injured persons.
The J-K government would do everything possible to support and protect the affected families. In such trying times, it is our duty to care for those who have been unfortunately affected by these natural calamities,” Lt Governor Manoj Sinha had said.
Director, Meteorological department, Sonum Lotus said no major rain occurred during the night across Jammu and Kashmir.
Right now weather is generally cloudy at most places and is likely to become partly cloudy towards afternoon. Occasional light rain possible at some places during the day, he said.
Most parts of Jammu region have been receiving incessant rains for the past few days and the Meteorological department has predicted widespread intermittent rain across Jammu and Kashmir till July 30.
Heavy to very heavy rain is possible at some places and may lead to flash floods, mudslide, landslide and water logging (in low lying areas). People are advised to remain alert as water level has risen in all rivers (owing to incessant rains), a spokesperson of the MET had said.
People have been advised to keep away from hilly, landslide and mudslide prone areas.
Meanwhile, two more dead bodies have been recovered in Rajouri district since last evening, taking the death toll due to weather fury to 10 in the twin districts.
Pertinently, eight persons—seven in Kishtwar and one in Rajouri district, died on Wednesday in the flash floods on Wednesday while 17 others were rescued. However, 19 persons as per the officials are still missing and rescue operation has been going on to trace them.
In Rajouri district, two more bodies have been recovered since last evening, taking the toll of deaths due to flash floods to 10 in twin districts of Jammu region, officials said.
“Two dead bodies have been recovered since last evening in Rajouri district. One body was recovered from flood water in Nowshera on Thursday afternoon while another was recovered in Kalakote area late last evening,” they said.
The death toll in Rajouri district has mounted to three since Wednesday. Notably, a non-local labourer from Chhattisgarh got washed away in flash floods yesterday.
Moreover, three persons, who were stuck in flooded river in Dhangri area of the district, were rescued by Army today. (with inputs from PTI/KNO)


KV News

Kashmir Vision cover all daily updates for the newspaper

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *