SAHIL BHAT
AUG 21: With rigorous efforts to trace the remaining 33 missing persons trapped under debris in cloudburst-hit Kishtwar, the multi-agency search operation entered the eighth day on Thursday.
“With multiple agencies forming separate teams in action, the search operation to trace the 33 missing persons has been sharpened and made rigorous,” officials said.
It is learnt that the three locations — impact site near community kitchen, the area where houses got washed away, and the Bhuat nallah in Gulabgarh-Paddar areas — are meticulously searched. Teams of Army, Police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), civil administration, and local volunteers have been deployed in this regard.
“A team comprising NDRF, SDRF, and police personnel extensively engaged in rescue efforts along the 22-km stretch from Chisoti to Gulabgarh after the recovery of two bodies since past two days,” official added.
Specialized heavy-duty trucks, earthmovers have been pressed into action as part of intensified rescue operation. Swift evacuation is made feasible with vehicles.
Rescue teams from 13th Battalion of NDRF are engaged in moving large boulders to ensure hassle-free path and are active in search operations along the river-nallah bed to retrieve missing bodies.
On the directions of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha senior IAS and IPS officers are monitoring the operation underway in Chasoti village.
Pertinent to mention, the death-toll stands at 65, including three CISF personnel and one Special Police Officer of J&K Police, and more than 100 people injured. The catastrophe hit the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata Shrine on August 14 during the yatra.
Furthermore, the annual Machail Mata pilgrimage that commenced on July 25 was scheduled to culminate on September 5, has remained suspended since the calamity.
