Death toll rises to 60, over 100 injured in J&K's Kishtwar cloudburst; rescue operations intensify
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said 60 people have so far died in the cloudburst.
He said over 100 have been injured and many others are still missing. "We don't have the exact number of the missing people," the CM said.
An official said the injured persons have been evacuated to different hospitals for specialised treatment.
The condition of 35 injured is stated to be critical. The official said the death toll is likely to go up.
'As of now, 69 persons are missing as their family members have approached the administration and informed about the missing of their wards,' the official said.
The official said a rescue operation by SDRF, police, civil administration personnel and NDRF teams is going on.
The local volunteers and residents are also assisting in the rescue operation.
A massive cloudburst struck Chositi, the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple in Kishtwar district, at around noon yesterday.
The cloudburst triggered a flash flood and mudslide in Chositi village, which was abuzz with activities as people in large numbers have been visiting the area since the start of the Machail Mata Yatra on July 25.
The pilgrims have to travel 8.5 km from the road to the 9,500-feet-high temple from Chositi village. The temple lies two villages ahead, and the devotees have to pass through Chositi.
A volunteer said nobody knows the exact number of missing people as a large number of people were present at the site when the cloudburst hit the village, triggering the flash flood and mudslide.
'There was a parking lot and langar (community kitchen) in the area. Besides, there was a paramilitary camp in the area. Locals had also set up shops in view of the yatra,' DDC chairperson Kishtwar Pooja Thakur told this newspaper.
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Indian Express
3 hours ago
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Kishtwar flash flood: How climate change has contributed to extreme weather events in J&K
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Between 2010 and 2022, J&K witnessed 2,863 extreme weather events in which 552 deaths were reported, according to a 2024 study, 'Extreme weather events induced mortalities in Jammu and Kashmir, India during 2010-2022', published in Mausam, the quarterly journal of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The analysis was carried out by IMD scientists Mukhtar Ahmed, Sonam Lotus, Farooq Ahmad Bhat, Amir Hassan Kichloo, and Shivinder Singh, with Bappa Das, a researcher at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. During these 12 years, thunderstorms — characterised by strong winds accompanied by lightning and sometimes precipitation — and heavy rain occurred frequently. While there were 1,942 instances of thunderstorms, heavy rain — defined as an incident in which a weather station receives 64.5-115.5 mm of rain in 24 hours — took place 409 times, the study said. Other frequent extreme weather events included flash floods (triggered by intense rainfall over a very short duration) and landslides, which occurred 168 and 186 times respectively. While there were just 42 instances of heavy snow (when a station receives more than 30 cm of snowfall in 24 hours) during this period, they killed 182 people, the heaviest toll extracted by any extreme weather event. The number of deaths due to flash floods, heavy rain, and landslides were 119, 111, and 71 respectively. The analysis also showed that the largest number of deaths due to flash floods occurred in Kishtwar (where Thursday's disaster occurred), Anantnag, Ganderbal, and Doda. The study noted that 'for the union territory as a whole, heavy rain and heavy snow have been two major disasters causing mortality, though flash floods, thunderstorms and windstorms are gaining importance'. Although several factors contribute to the occurrence of extreme weather events in J&K, the three significant drivers behind these events are rising temperatures, the changing pattern of Western Disturbances, and the region's topography. RISING TEMPERATURES: J&K is located in the western Himalayas, a region that has experienced a two-fold increase in temperature compared to the Indian subcontinent as a whole post-2000 ('Delving into Recent Changes in Precipitation Patterns over the Western Himalayas in a Global Warming Era', Global Warming — A Concerning Component of Climate Change, 2023). Due to this, the western Himalayas have witnessed increased mean and extreme precipitation. This is because warmer temperatures allow the atmosphere to hold more water vapour — for every 1-degree-Celsius rise in average temperature, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This leads to an increase in precipitation intensity, duration, and/or frequency, which ultimately causes severe flooding. Also, increased temperatures have shrunk glaciers in the region, resulting in an increase in the number of glacial lakes. Their water, when released, can cause major flooding in downstream areas. Mahesh Palawat, who works with Skymet Weather Services, told Climate Trends, a Delhi-based climate research organisation, on Friday, 'Since these lakes are not centuries old, the glacial lake edges are very unstable and prone to erosion, melting, and sudden failures. Whenever there is a spell of heavy rain, water tends to overflow and bring down slush and unconsolidated sediment, causing more damage downstream.' CHANGING NATURE OF WESTERN DISTURBANCES: Experts suggest that J&K could be witnessing more flash floods and rain due to global warming-induced changes in the nature of western disturbances. 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Operations will commence at the "first available operational weather window", a source said Press Trust of India New Delhi The Indian Air Force is ready to undertake relief and rescue operations in the aftermath of the deadly cloudburst in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district, with two Mi-17 helicopters and one Advanced Light Helicopter on standby at Jammu and Udhampur, sources said on Friday. Operations will commence at the "first available operational weather window", a source said. A massive flash flood triggered by the cloudburst struck the remote mountain village of Chisoti on Thursday, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 100, officials said. Authorities have so far identified 30 of the retrieved bodies, they said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke with J-K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, took stock of the situation, and assured them of all help. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
