In Jammu, unprecedented rain, 38 deaths, and questions over Vaishno Devi yatra

Eighteen of the 34 bodies brought to the Government Medical College Hospital’s mortuary in Jammu from Katra have been identified as residents of Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, who visited a hospital in Katra to enquire about the health of 13 injured pilgrims there, said, “A cloudburst occurred and devotees at Ardhkuwari were caught in it. It was a heart-wrenching natural calamity in which we lost precious lives. We are providing all possible assistance to their families.”

Pointing out that the yatra was suspended on Tuesday due to the weather, he announced ex gratia relief of Rs 9 lakh to the families of the deceased.

Questions over yatra

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, while expressing grief over the deaths, asked why officials did not stop pilgrims from treading the track when there was a warning of the calamity.

“We will have to talk about it later. When we knew about the weather, should we not have taken certain steps to save those lives? The weather warning had come to us a few days ago,” he told the media.

“Why were these people on the track? Why were they not stopped? Why were they not moved to a safe place? This has to be discussed later. We feel sorrow over the loss of precious lives,” he said.

Significantly, Lt Governor Sinha is the chairman of the Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board, which monitors the pilgrimage in the Trikuta Hills.

The pilgrimage was suspended after four pilgrims, who had taken refuge under an iron shed in view of the rains, were buried in a landslide around 3 pm Tuesday.

The subsequent landslide struck halfway along the winding 12-km trek from Katra to the shrine.

There are two routes up to the shrine. While the yatra had been suspended on the Himkoti trek route since Tuesday morning, it was allowed on the old route until 1:30 pm, when authorities decided to suspend it until further notice.

Record rain

In view of the devastation, the school education department in the UT had closed schools last week, while the State Board of School Education postponed class 11 and 12 exams across J&K.

Official sources said that in just a 24-hour period, Jammu recorded 380 mm of rainfall on Tuesday. This is the maximum rainfall ever recorded in Jammu in a 24-hour period since 1910, when the observatory was established, they added.

The previous record was 270.4 mm recorded on September 25, 1988.

Omar also visited a fourth bridge on the Tawi River, which was damaged due to flash floods, and emphasised the need for its technical evaluation as it had been damaged during the 2014 floods as well.

He directed the BSNL and other private telecom operators, such as Jio Network and Airtel, to immediately restore internet and telecom services.

Vehicular traffic on the Jammu-Pathankot, Jammu-Srinagar and Batote-Doda-Kishtwar national highways was suspended following damage due to the landslides and flash floods.

Incessant rains during the past three days also created a flood-like situation in various parts of Jammu, inundating several areas under waist-deep water and prompting the NDRF, SDRF, police and Army to use boats to rescue people. More than 5,000 people were evacuated from low-lying flooded areas to safety, officials said.

In a swift and daring operation, the Indian Army Aviation evacuated 22 CRPF personnel along with three civilians who had been stranded near Madhopur Headworks since Tuesday.

In the Valley

Meanwhile, in Srinagar, the Jehlum river was filled to the brim, with the water level close to the danger mark. Devastated by the massive floods in 2014, the city is on high alert.

Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Anshul Garg, said precautionary measures are in place and the water levels are being monitored. “All our deputy commissioners in south Kashmir and central Kashmir are on the ground,” he said. “The irrigation and flood control teams are monitoring the situation and tracking water flow levels.”

The government has announced that all schools and colleges in the Valley will remain closed on Thursday.

The Valley also saw a communication breakdown as both wired and mobile internet, as well as calling facilities, were disrupted. Officials said this was because of damage to the optical fibre cable along the national highway where landslides struck.