Latest news with #Machailyatra
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Indian Express
A rush of pilgrims, and then, all swept away: Eyewitnesses recount Kishtwar flash flood horror
It was a loud clap of thunder that alerted Pradeep Singh, sitting inside his makeshift dhaba in Kishtwar's Paddar. He looked up to see a dust storm coming and immediately ran for cover – just in the nick of time. Within minutes, the place – some 9 km away from the main Mata Machail temple — was covered by slush, boulders and uprooted trees. 'This place was teeming with chanting pilgrims,' Singh, a 35-year-old from Chirala village in Doda's Bhaderwah, says. 'But within minutes, it was all swept away. When I looked back, all I could see was muck, boulders and uprooted trees in the 200-300 sq metre area.' On Thursday afternoon, a cloudburst hit the Mata Machail yatra route in Kishtwar, killing at least 65 people, although the toll could climb higher. The flash floods, which came at a time of the ongoing Mata Machail yatra, is believed to have swept away several pilgrims and damaged several homes. According to eyewitnesses, hundreds of people had gathered in the 300-metre area near Chishoti, where the flash floods occurred. 'A batch of pilgrims had just disembarked from their vehicles and were taking a break before travelling on. Several people were sitting at the langar (community kitchen) set up near the nullah, while others had gathered in the ground enjoying nature and waiting for transport. Some were standing on a wooden bridge over a nullah,' he says. Indeed, the area bears evidence of the scale of the disaster. Piles of plates and utensils peek from under the boulders, sludge, and uprooted trees. Mud-caked vehicles and wrecked buildings dot the area, some damaged beyond recognition. According to locals, several people who had parked their cars in the area and journeyed on had come back to retrieve them when the cloudburst occurred. Since the 10-km long road between Gulabgarh and Chishoti village in Paddar was narrow and had nullahs on the way, several pilgrims prefer to leave their vehicles here and take the local transport to Chishoti – the last motorable point to the temple. 'As a result, even those with vehicles could not drive away,' one local says. A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) camp in the area was also swept away in the flash floods. The bodies of two personnel have been found, and searches are currently ongoing for others. According to locals, the casualties could have been higher, but the boulders swept down by the flood prevented the water from entering Chishoti village. This year, the annual Machail yatra began July 25 and will go on till September 5. With this yatra fast emerging as the third major pilgrimage in Jammu and Kashmir after Mata Vaishno Devi and Amarnath, the Kishtwar administration issued an advisory limiting the number of pilgrims to 8,000/day. Of this, 6,000 had to be registered online, the advisory, issued on July 18, said, adding that remaining would be spot registrations done at Shri Gauri Shankar temple, Sarkoot, the Block Development Office of Gulabgarh and Chishoti. However, details for online registration shows that as of August 15, only five pilgrims were registered online. According to sources, the long weekend from August 15-17 meant a swell in numbers, with Paddar seeing between 15,000 and 20,000 pilgrims on the day of the disaster.
7NEWS
3 days ago
- Climate
- 7NEWS
Sudden heavy rain triggers flash floods in Indian Kashmir, leaving at least 46 dead
At least 46 people have died and more than 200 are missing following sudden, heavy rain in Indian Kashmir. It is the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week. The incident occurred in Chasoti town of Kishtwar district, a stopover point on a popular pilgrimage route. It comes a little over a week after a heavy flood and mudslide engulfed an entire village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. The flood on Thursday washed away a community kitchen and a security post set up in the village, a pit stop along the pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple, said one of the officials who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media about the incident. 'A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away,' the official said. The Machail yatra is a popular pilgrimage to the high altitude Himalayan shrine of Machail Mata, one of the manifestations of Goddess Durga, and pilgrims trek to the temple from Chasoti, where the road for vehicles ends. 'The news is grim and accurate, verified information from the area hit by the cloudburst is slow in arriving,' Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of India's federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, said in a post on X. Television footage showed pilgrims crying in fear as water flooded the village. The disaster occurred at 11.30 am local time, Ramesh Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kishtwar district, told news agency ANI, adding that local police and disaster response officials had reached the scene. 'Army, air force teams have also been activated. Search and rescue operations are underway,' Kumar said. A cloudburst, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, is a sudden intense downpour of more than 100mm of rain in just one hour that can trigger sudden floods, landslides and devastation, especially in mountainous regions during the monsoon. The local weather office in Srinagar predicted intense showers for several regions in Kashmir on Thursday, asking residents to stay away from loose structures, electric poles and old trees as there was a possibility of mudslides and flash floods.
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Climate
- Express Tribune
Sudden, heavy rain in IIOJK leaves 46 dead
Rescue workers remove the debris as they search for survivors after a landslide following torrential rain in Shimla in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, India, on August 14. Photo REUTERS At least 46 people died and more than 200 were missing following sudden, heavy rain in Indian Illegally-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Thursday, the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week. The incident occurred in Chasoti town of Kishtwar district, a stopover point on a popular pilgrimage route. It comes a little over a week after a heavy flood and mudslide engulfed an entire village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. The flood washed away a community kitchen and a security post set up in the village, a pit stop along the pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple, said one of the officials, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media about the incident. "A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away," the official said. The Machail yatra is a popular pilgrimage to the high altitude Himalayan shrine of Machail Mata, one of the manifestations of Goddess Durga, and pilgrims trek to the temple from Chasoti, where the road for vehicles ends. "The news is grim and accurate, verified information from the area hit by the cloudburst is slow in arriving," Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of IIOJK, said in a post on X. Television footage showed pilgrims crying in fear as water flooded the village. The disaster occurred at 11.30 am local time, Ramesh Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kishtwar district, told news agency ANI, adding that local police and disaster response officials had reached the scene. "Army, air force teams have also been activated. Search and rescue operations are underway," Kumar said. A cloudburst, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, is a sudden, intense downpour of over 100mm (4 inches) of rain in just one hour that can trigger sudden floods, landslides, and devastation, especially in mountainous regions during the monsoon. The local weather office in Srinagar predicted intense showers for several regions in Kashmir on Thursday, including Kishtwar, asking residents to stay away from loose structures, electric poles and old trees as there was a possibility of mudslides and flash floods.
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Climate
- Japan Today
Sudden, heavy rain in Indian Kashmir leaves 46 dead, more than 200 missing
At least 46 people died and more than 200 were missing following sudden, heavy rain in Indian Kashmir, officials said on Thursday, the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week. The incident occurred in Chasoti town of Kishtwar district, a stopover point on a popular pilgrimage route. It comes a little over a week after a heavy flood and mudslide engulfed an entire village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. The flood washed away a community kitchen and a security post set up in the village, a pit stop along the pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple, said one of the officials, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media about the incident. "A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away," the official said. The Machail yatra is a popular pilgrimage to the high altitude Himalayan shrine of Machail Mata, one of the manifestations of Goddess Durga, and pilgrims trek to the temple from Chasoti, where the road for vehicles ends. "The news is grim and accurate, verified information from the area hit by the cloudburst is slow in arriving," Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of India's federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, said in a post on X. Television footage showed pilgrims crying in fear as water flooded the village. The disaster occurred at 11.30 am local time, Ramesh Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kishtwar district, told news agency ANI, adding that local police and disaster response officials had reached the scene. "Army, air force teams have also been activated. Search and rescue operations are underway," Kumar said. A cloudburst, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, is a sudden, intense downpour of over 100 mm (4 inches) of rain in just one hour that can trigger sudden floods, landslides, and devastation, especially in mountainous regions during the monsoon. The local weather office in Srinagar predicted intense showers for several regions in Kashmir on Thursday, including Kishtwar, asking residents to stay away from loose structures, electric poles and old trees as there was a possibility of mudslides and flash floods. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Climate
- Perth Now
Sudden heavy rain in Indian Kashmir leaves 46 dead
At least 46 people have died and more than 200 are missing following sudden, heavy rain in Indian Kashmir, officials say in the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week. The incident occurred in Chasoti town of Kishtwar district, a stopover point on a popular pilgrimage route. It comes a little over a week after a heavy flood and mudslide engulfed an entire village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. The flood on Thursday washed away a community kitchen and a security post set up in the village, a pit stop along the pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple, said one of the officials who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media about the incident. "A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away," the official said. The Machail yatra is a popular pilgrimage to the high altitude Himalayan shrine of Machail Mata, one of the manifestations of Goddess Durga, and pilgrims trek to the temple from Chasoti, where the road for vehicles ends. "The news is grim and accurate, verified information from the area hit by the cloudburst is slow in arriving," Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of India's federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, said in a post on X. Television footage showed pilgrims crying in fear as water flooded the village. The disaster occurred at 11.30 am local time, Ramesh Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kishtwar district, told news agency ANI, adding that local police and disaster response officials had reached the scene. "Army, air force teams have also been activated. Search and rescue operations are underway," Kumar said. A cloudburst, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, is a sudden intense downpour of more than 100mm of rain in just one hour that can trigger sudden floods, landslides and devastation, especially in mountainous regions during the monsoon. The local weather office in Srinagar predicted intense showers for several regions in Kashmir on Thursday, asking residents to stay away from loose structures, electric poles and old trees as there was a possibility of mudslides and flash floods.
