Kishtwar cloudburst: Multi-agency search operation intensifies to trace 33 missing
Chisoti (JK), Aug 21 (PTI) The multi-agency search operation to trace 33 missing persons in cloudburst-hit Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir entered the eighth day on Thursday, officials said.
The death toll in the natural calamity that struck the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple on August 14 during the yatra stands at 65, including three CISF personnel and one Special Police Officer (SPO) of J-K Police. Over 100 people were injured.
“The search operation by multiple agencies has been intensified to trace 33 missing persons. Operations are underway at the most affected sites by separate teams,” a senior official told PTI.
The focus of the operation has been laid at three locations — the major impact site near a langar (community kitchen), the area where houses were washed away, and the Bhuat nallah in Gulabgarh-Paddar areas.
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 at these sites, the officials said.
A team comprising NDRF, SDRF, and police personnel is conducting a search operation along 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 official said.
Specialised heavy-duty trucks have been deployed in the Chisoti to assist in rescue operations. Authorities are using such vehicles to ensure swift evacuation and provide relief in the affected areas, they said.
