Mehbooba Mufti cancels Kishtwar visit due to ongoing rescue operation

Srinagar, Aug 16 (IANS) Former J&K Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief, Mehbooba Mufti, on Saturday cancelled her visit to Chashoti in Kishtwar in view of the ongoing relief & rescue operation at the disaster site.

The PDP chief was scheduled to visit the Chashoti disaster site on Sunday, where flash floods triggered by a massive cloudburst killed 60 people and injured over 100 others, with nearly 75 people still reported as missing.

PDP spokesperson said that Mehbooba Mufti has decided to cancel her visit to the Kishtwar disaster site so that her visit does not interfere with the ongoing relief and rescue operation there.

"There has been strong resentment among locals that VIP visits were hampering the rescue work, as the administration's attention and energy were being diverted.

”Former Chief Minister and President of the Jammu & Kashmir PDP, Mehbooba Mufti, has cancelled her proposed visit to Paddar, Kishtwar, in view of the ongoing rescue and relief operations,” a PDP spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that respecting the concerns of the locals, who do not want VIP visits to hamper the relief and rescue operation, Mehbooba Mufti has conveyed that the immediate priority of the administration must remain on providing relief to the affected villagers and stranded pilgrims, besides ensuring every possible effort is made to trace the missing persons.

“She has also expressed solidarity with the victims and their families, assuring that the party stands by them in this hour of grief,” the spokesperson added.

So far, 60 bodies have been identified and handed over to their next of kin after completion of legal formalities.

Meanwhile, 100 people have been reported missing by their families, although locals and eyewitnesses claim that hundreds may have been swept away by flash floods and buried under giant boulders, logs, and rubble.

Among the deceased were two personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and a Special Police Officer (SPO) of the local police, the officials added.

The disaster struck Chashoti, the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple, at approximately 12:25 P.M. on August 14.

It flattened a makeshift market, a community kitchen site for the Machail Mata Yatris and a security outpost. At least 16 residential houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre-long bridge, and over a dozen vehicles were also damaged in the flash floods.

The annual Machail Mata yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the third consecutive day on Saturday.

The 8.5-kilometre trek to the 9,500 ft high shrine starts from Chashoti, located about 90 kilometres from Kishtwar town.

Rescue efforts were intensified with the deployment of nearly a dozen earth-movers by the civil administration and the use of specialised equipment and dog squads by the NDRF.

Jitendra Singh said on X after the visit to the disaster site, “After a long, tedious uphill drive, I managed to reach the site of the cloudburst disaster in Kishtwar… very late, around midnight.”

In addition to SDRF, NDRF, home guards, local volunteers and J&K police, the Army has deployed over 300 personnel to augment the rescue exercise.

--IANS

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