Kishtwar cloudburst: Rescue operation to trace 20 missing resume after rain interruption

Jammu: The rescue operation to locate 20 people missing after a cloudburst in a village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar was resumed after remaining suspended for hours owing to inclement weather, officials said. Seven persons were found dead and 17 others were rescued in an injured condition after the remote Honzar village in Dacchan tehsil was hit by flash floods triggered by the cloudburst in the early hours of 28 July, damaging 21 houses, 21 cowsheds, a ration depot, a bridge and a mosque.

The rescue operation was interrupted by heavy rains on the night of 29 July and later resumed after a slight improvement in the weather conditions, the officials said. The search and rescue operation gained momentum after the Indian Air Force (IAF) pressed three helicopters from Jammu, Srinagar and Udhampur and made eight sorties, transferring relief load of 2,250 kilograms, 44 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) personnel and four medical assistants besides evacuating two critically injured persons from Soundar to Kishtwar for specialised treatment. An official of the disaster management said no helicopter sorties from Kishtwar to Soundar could mature since 6 am on 30 July due to inclement weather. The IAF had stationed an MI-17 helicopter on stand-by at Kishtwar since 29 July, he said.

Six teams of the SDRF and NDRF with sophisticated equipment are involved in the operation along with other rescuers from police, army and local volunteers, the officials said. A meteorological department official said the weather remained overcast with light rain at most places across Jammu and Kashmir. “Same conditions are most likely to continue throughout the day. A brief spell of heavy showers may occur at some places which may trigger flash flood, mudslide and landslide,” the official said, advising people to remain alert and move away from vulnerable places.