At least 11 people, including seven of a family, died in two incidents of cloudburst and landslide triggered by heavy rains in remote villages of Reasi and Ramban districts, as Jammu and Kashmir, beset by a series of natural calamities in the past fortnight, labours to bring life back on track.
The Union Territory has been reeling under a series of cloudbursts and landslides since August 14. With the latest incidents, 130 people have lost their lives and 140 were injured in Jammu, while 32 pilgrims are still missing.
The pilgrimage to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district remained suspended for the fifth day on Saturday. As many as 34 pilgrims died when a landslide struck about halfway along the winding 12-km trek route from Katra to the shrine on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has directed officials to ensure round-the-clock monitoring of the situation and carry out timely evacuation of people from risk-prone zones.
The record rainfall across the Jammu region earlier this week left a trail of devastation, with hundreds of properties damaged and dozens of roads and bridges washed away, forcing the suspension of traffic on key highways, besides virtually paralysing the rail traffic.
Earlier it may be rccalled that a landslide flattened a house in the remote Badder village in Reasi district, killing seven members of a family, officials said. The deceased have been identified as Nazir Ahmad (38), his wife Wazira Begum (35) and their sons Bilal Ahmed (13), Mohd Mustafa (11), Mohd Adil (8), Mohd Mubarak (6) and Mohd Wasim (5).
Nazir and his family were asleep when their house on a hill slope came under the debris brought down by the landslide, burying them alive, the officials said, adding the locals frantically searched the debris and were later joined by police, but only managed to pull out the bodies.
In Ramban district, four people, including two brothers, died after a cloudburst struck a remote village, damaging two houses and a school. The cloudburst triggered flash floods in the mountainous Rajgarh, located about 25 kilometres from the district headquarters, around 11.30 pm on Friday.
“Bodies of four people were recovered from underneath the debris after a hectic search by rescuers, comprising local volunteers, police and SDRF,” Deputy Commissioner of Ramban, Mohammad Alyas Khan, told PTI.
