Kishtwar Cloudburst: Desperate Search for Missing Continues Amid Fading Hope
Relatives cling to hope as rescue efforts enter third day after cloudburst leaves 82 missing and 60 dead
Three days after flash floods in Chisoti village, anguished families are holding onto dwindling hope as rescue operations continue to search for 82 missing individuals, including 81 pilgrims and one CISF personnel. The disaster claimed 60 lives and injured over 100 people in the remote Padder sub-division.
The deluge ravaged Chisoti, the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple, flattening a makeshift market, a community kitchen for the yatra, a security outpost, 16 homes, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre bridge, and over a dozen vehicles.
The annual Machail Mata yatra, a pilgrimage to the 9,500-foot-high shrine that began on July 25 and was set to end on September 5, has been halted for the third consecutive day. The 8.5-kilometre trek starts from Chisoti, about 90 kilometres from Kishtwar town.
Also Read: Kishtwar Cloudburst: 60 Lives Lost, Over 100 Injured, Rescue Efforts Intensify
In Benagarh village near Jammu, residents await news of seven missing locals, including four children. Among them was Mamta, whose body was recovered, leaving the village in mourning. “We’re praying for their survival, but every hour feels heavier,” said Ajay Kumar, a relative, who criticized the lack of weather-related precautions for the yatra.
Heart-wrenching scenes unfolded as the parents of missing sisters Vanshika and Disha arrived from Kishtwar, collapsing in grief. “My daughters are gone; my world is shattered,” their mother sobbed. Their father recounted searching hospitals and mortuaries, finding no trace of his girls.
In Jammu’s Bishnah area, the body of Happy Sharma was brought home for his last rites, while six others, including five children, remain missing. In Samba’s Sarai village, former sarpanch Surinder Singh reported that Poonam and her daughters Rashika and Namika are among the missing, though Poonam’s husband and son survived.
Other missing pilgrims include Shahi Paul, Savita Devi, their children Kaniya and Shivam, and relatives Sudesh Kumari and Vishal from Samba’s Vijaupur. Four pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh—Shalini, Pooja, Babu, and his son—and four from Haryana—Vijendar, Raj Kumari, Vedika, and Chahat—along with Dewan from Himachal Pradesh, are also unaccounted for. In Jammu’s New Plot, five residents are missing, while Janipur locality mourns four recovered bodies and two still missing.
Manoj Kumar Biswal, a Central Industrial Security Force personnel, is among the missing, adding to the tragedy’s toll. Of the 60 deceased, 46 bodies have been identified and handed over to families after legal formalities.
Rescue efforts, involving police, army, NDRF, SDRF, Border Roads Organisation, civil administration, and local volunteers, continued tirelessly on Saturday, combing through debris for signs of life. Most missing individuals hail from Jammu, Udhampur, and Samba districts (60), with others from Doda, Reasi, Rajouri, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh.
As the search persists, families across the region pray for miracles, their hope tested by each passing moment.
Also Read: Kishtwar Cloudburst: 38 Killed, Rescue Efforts Intensify
