Vaishno Devi landslide tragedy: 35 bodies recovered; floods wreak havoc in Jammu division

Jammu: Thirty-five bodies have been recovered so far in the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine route landslide tragedy as floods wreaked havoc in the Jammu division of J&K.

The Trikuta Hills landslide occurred on Tuesday, and the officials of the Katra Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said that 35 bodies have been recovered so far from the debris near Ardhkuwari.

So far, 22 of these bodies have been identified. Most of them hailed from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The families of many of them have reached Katra, and the bodies after completion of the legal formalities, are being handed over to their relatives, officials said.

Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra was suspended after the tragedy, but was restored through the old route on Wednesday evening.

“Army, Police and SDRF men were still engaged in a rescue operation. The entire work is being carried out manually as it is not possible to use JCBs there,” officials said.

At least 20 people were injured in this landslide triggered by incessant heavy rain and are undergoing treatment in different hospitals. The landslide struck near the Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Ardhkuwari, about halfway along the 11-km trek from Katra to the shrine, at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, four, including a BSF trooper, were killed by floods. The Indian Air Force and Army have airlifted 86 marooned people to safety, including 26 CRPF jawans, after the Ravi River breached the three flood gates at the Lakhanpur barrage.

Reports said 700 houses have been damaged by flood water after the Tawi, Chenab, Uhj, Basantar, Devak, Tarnah and Munawar rivers in the Jammu division breached their banks and inundated populated areas.

All major highways and roads, including the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, Batote-Doda-Kishtwar-Paddar, Katra-Reasi-Mahore-Gool, Kathua-Basohli-Bani, Udhampur-Ramnagar-Basantgarh and many other inter-district and link roads, remained blocked by landslides.

Even the traffic on the Jammu-Pathankote National Highway remained suspended for several hours due to flooding in the Lakhanpur Toll Plaza area and on the highway near the damaged bridge.

Over 7,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying flooded areas.

The phone and network services were restored across all networks on Wednesday, 24 hours after the damage to optical fibres by mudslides, etc.

In Kishtwar, a massive flash flood after a cloudburst at Margi village in the remote Warwan area damaged at least 30 houses and a bridge and caused land erosion in the crop fields spread over 300 Kanals of land.

A BSF trooper identified as Rajiv Nunia, belonging to Assam, was washed away in the Chenab River flood when he was deployed at a forward post in the Pargwal area of Akhnoor sector in Jammu district on Tuesday night.

Many areas of the Jammu district suffered badly due to floods. Scores of houses and government buildings were damaged. More than 60 vehicles were also damaged in the Tawi flood in the Peerkho area along the Circular Road.

The Tawi bund near Bikram Chowk, adjoining a temple, has suffered damage due to heavy flooding, while a portion of the approach road of the 4th Tawi bridge caved in.

SKUAST- Chatha complex and GGM Science College, Jammu, remained submerged in water, while many low-lying areas of the city were also waterlogged.

The city roads and lanes have suffered massive damage, and many drains have been washed away.

Similar reports have been received from Kathua, Samba, Udhampur and some other areas. The power infrastructure has also suffered huge damage, and many pockets in Jammu city did not have electricity on Wednesday evening.

Defence spokesman said that the Indian Air Force has pressed into service six Mi-17 and one Chinook helicopters for relief and rescue operations in the flooded parts of Jammu.

Authorities have closed all schools, colleges and universities in the union territory for the day.

The Meteorological (MeT) Department has forecast improvement in weather in J&K from today as water in all the rivers of Jammu division receded to below the danger mark in the morning today.

IANS