
In Chishoti, man running langar pulled out from debris after 30 hours
'Whom God saves, no one can kill is a saying here. Subhash, who has been serving devotees for so many years, feeding them selflessly, was protected by Mata herself,' said LoP Sunil Sharma, who had been overseeing the rescue operations in the village. 'The greatest gift of his life is that Mata saved him.'
Subhash, from Udhampur, has long considered serving the devotees of Mata his duty. Every pilgrimage season, he, along with his colleagues, used to set up a langar to feed thousands of yatris who trekked through the mountains. His langar was swept away when flash floods occurred in the afternoon. Many pilgrims at the site were buried under logs and rubble. Rescue teams of Army, police, NDRF, SDRF and local volunteers were clearing debris near the langar on Friday when they discovered him alive. He was eventually shifted to the Kishtwar district hospital for specialised treatment, and later discharged, Naib Tehsildar Sushil Kumar said.

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Time of India
16 hours ago
- Time of India
SDRF man Gets adoption Calls for 13-month-old girl saved from Kishtwar rubble, but child reunited with family
Kishtwar: Indian Army personnel construct a Bailey bridge as part of restoration work at cloudburst-hit Chadoti village, in Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir. (PTI Photo) CHASOTI: A long beard, a navy-blue cap, a megaphone, and a child in his lap. That was how the world met Shahnawaz, an SDRF member from Doda in J&K. His photo — cradling a 13-month-old girl pulled alive from rubble at Chasoti village in Kishtwar district — has gone viral. Calls and messages poured in. Strangers wanted to adopt the baby. 'Her parents have been found. She is with them now, but people don't believe me,' Shahnawaz said Sunday. They kept calling. Flash floods from a cloudburst on Aug 14 tore through Chasoti's hillside stream. Rajai Nalla roared, hurling down boulders, trees, homes. A bridge snapped. People crossing the wooden span were swept away. Pilgrims at campsites and langars for Machail Mata Yatra vanished in a matter of seconds. At least 61 dead, 116 injured, and about 70 still missing. Rescue teams dug with excavators. Relatives stood along mud-brown banks, eyes fixed on orange vests. Desperation pushed them dangerously close to the torrent until one voice cut through: 'Step back.' That was Shahnawaz again, megaphone in hand, sprinting up and down the stream. 'Everyone is desperate. You cannot stop them from rushing to the spot when they hear that a body has been found,' he said, his voice turning hoarse. On Aug 14 evening, while clearing a shattered home, he spotted a faint movement — a tiny arm under debris. He pulled out the child, cleaned her, and wrapped her in a blanket. Then he asked colleagues to free a woman trapped nearby — the girl's mother, a healthcare worker. Alive. 'When the child began to cry, I was happy,' he said. Later that night, when phone networks revived, Shahnawaz's photo exploded online. 'I felt proud that people recognised our work. We gave our 100%. Saving lives brought us happiness.' The girl was handed back to her father, who had been frantically searching. Shahnawaz kept moving. The next day, Independence Day, he revived another girl with CPR and mouth-to-mouth. He had seen Kishtwar's worst for six years since he joined SDRF in 2019 — bodies fished from Chenab's icy currents after road crashes in the region's harsh terrain. 'Last winter, after pulling bodies from the freezing river, I felt my blood circulation had stopped,' he said. His family has always been supportive and proud of his work, despite the dangers. 'They're happy I saved the infant,' he said, smiling. Then he turned serious, patting the megaphone slung by his side: 'It has drained my voice, but it is part of my job.' As dusk fell on Chasoti, Shahnawaz's chilling warning echoed — stay away from the killer stream.


The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Search for trapped cloudburst victims enters fourth day in J&K's Kishtwar
Amid overcast conditions, the search operation to trace those missing in the cloudburst in this remote village of Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district entered the fourth day on Sunday (August 17, 2025) with rescuers hopeful of clearing a major impact spot during the day, officials said. India monsoon highlights on August 17, 2025 Army engineers, meanwhile, have started working on a bailey bridge to restore connectivity to the village and the Machail Mata shrine and further intensify the rescue efforts. Cloudburst struck Chisoti, the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple, on August 14, killing 60 persons and leaving 80 others missing, while 167 persons were rescued in an injured condition. The flash-floods triggered by the cloudburst left a trail of destruction, flattening a makeshift market, a langar (community kitchen) site for the yatra, damaging 16 houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre-long bridge, besides over a dozen vehicles. Giant boulders were also left scattered at various spots, especially around the worst-hit langar site and some of them hampering the search were blasted in a controlled explosion by the rescuers on Saturday (August 16) evening. The officials said the joint teams of police, Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), civil administration, and local volunteers are continuing the rescue efforts. So far, 50 bodies have been identified and handed over to their next of kin after completion of legal formalities. General Officer Commanding of the Army's counter-insurgency Delta Force Maj Gen A.P.S. Bal said Army engineers have conducted a survey of the area after a need for the bridge was felt. 'We need a 17-metre bridge which will be installed to facilitate smooth movement across the river,' the officer said, adding the structure will be completed by Sunday (August 17) evening. He said the Army responded to the disaster within 45 minutes after getting the information. 'We are here because of the people. As you know, our country's policy nowadays is the whole of nation approach. So, if there is any security issue, not just physical security, but all kinds of security has to be provided, the whole of nation approach has to be followed,' he said. He said all the security forces deployed are trying their best to help as many people as possible. 'Besides saving lives, we also tried to provide them with medicine, food, and all kinds of things that we could provide,' he said. The annual Machail Mata Yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday. The 8.5-km trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine starts from Chisoti, located about 90 km from Kishtwar town. The rescuers are utilising over a dozen earth-movers and other heavy equipment while the NDRF mobilised its resources, including dog squads, to speed up the rescue operation.


New Indian Express
a day ago
- New Indian Express
Nagarathpete fire: Narrow bylanes hinder rescue operations
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