Jammu and Kashmir is facing its second monsoon disaster of the pilgrimage season following the August 14 Kishtwar cloudburst. On Wednesday, rescue teams recovered 28 more bodies from a landslide site along the trek to the Vaishno Devi shrine, bringing the total death toll from Tuesday’s landslides and flash floods in Reasi and Doda to 38. Most of the victims at Ardhkuwari in Reasi were pilgrims from UP, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Punjab. Initially, six deaths had been reported at the site, and at least 20 others were injured in the landslide.

Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has announced ex gratia of Rs 9 lakh each to the families of the landslide victims. UP CM Yogi Adityanath, too, sanctioned Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the 11 people from his state killed in the Reasi landslide. CM Omar Abdullah demanded to know why district officials didn’t stop pilgrims from proceeding on the Vaishno Devi route in inclement weather. ” Very sorry to hear about the deaths of the pilgrims on the Mata Vaishno Devi track…Why were they not moved to a safe place? This has to be discussed later,” he said.LG Sinha briefed PM Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah on the flood situation and the Union territory’s preparedness for evacuation and relief operations.

Flood Alert

The Union Territory administration issued a flood alert after the Jhelum crossed the danger mark of 22 feet near Sangam. Landslides forced the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu highway, along with the Kishtwar-Doda-Sinthan-Anantnag road (NH-244) and the Mughal Road. Telecom services across J&K were disrupted, prompting CM Omar to direct BSNL and private service providers to restore internet and mobile networks at the earliest. “Still struggling with almost non-existent communication…Haven’t felt this disconnected since the terrible days of 2014 & 2019,” Omar said on X.

On Aug 14, at least 65 pilgrims on the Machail Mata trail died at a campsite in Chasoti village of Kishtwar after a cloudburst triggered flash flooding. Based on official data, 32 people reported missing since the tragedy are still to be traced. Three days later, seven people – five of them children – died in a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst in Kathua.