At least 16 people died and scores are missing in three cases of cloudburst on Wednesday in Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh.
In Kishtwar district of J&K, seven people died and 17 others were critically injured, while 20 others could not be traced till late on Wednesday after a cloudburst left behind a trail of death and destruction in a remote Hanzor village of Dacchan area.
After receiving the flash message early on Wednesday, the rescue teams comprising SDRF personnel along with local policemen trekked for over 3 to 4 hours to reach the affected area. Before the help arrived, the villagers who survived the fury of the cloudburst struggled their way to rescue the injured with bare hands.
Two columns of the Indian Army were deployed to assist the civil administration in carrying out rescue operations.
A separate incident of cloudburst was reported from the holy cave shrine area of Amarnath Cave late on Wednesday afternoon.
According to Kishtwar police, "So far seven dead bodies have been recovered while 17 others were injured.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet said, "Central Government is closely monitoring the situation in the wake of the cloudbursts in Kishtwar and Kargil. All possible assistance is being made available in the affected areas. I pray for everyone’s safety and well-being".
Lt-Governor Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha while announcing an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the tragic cloudburst in Kishtwar said the J&K Government will do everything possible to support and protect the affected families. He added, the grievously injured would be given Rs 50,000 each and Rs 12,700 under SDRF shall also be disbursed. Relief under SDRF for loss of houses, utensils, clothing, house-hold goods, cattle, cattle shed, loss of agricultural land etc. shall also be provided by the Deputy Commissioner, Kishtwar.
Meanwhile, In Ladakh, two cloudbursts hit different areas of Kargil, causing damage to a mini power project, nearly a dozen residential houses and standing crops, the officials said, adding that no loss of life was reported in the cloudbursts, which struck Sangra and Khangral on Tuesday evening.
Seven people died in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul-Spiti flash floods in Tozing Nullah in Udaipur, two injured and three are still missing, while two men died in Chamba, State Disaster Management director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said.
Besides four people, including a woman, her son, a hydro project official and a Delhi tourist are feared dead in Kullu district, he added.
In Lahaul-Spiti’s Udaipur, 12 labourers were washed in flash floods around 8 pm on Tuesday, Mokhta said. Seven bodies were recovered, two rescued with injuries and three are still missing, he added.
Four of the dead are from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi while one is from Reasi of Jammu and Kashmir. Two bodies are yet to be identified. The dead have been identified as Sher Singh (62), Mehar Chand (50), Nirath Ram (42) and Roo