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At least 32 people have died in a landslide near the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district, officials confirmed on Wednesday.
Rescue teams have pulled out more bodies from the debris, a day after disaster struck the route to the hilltop shrine. Twenty others are injured and undergoing treatment in different hospitals.
The landslide hit around 3 pm on Tuesday near the Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Adhkwari, about halfway along the 12-km trek from Katra to the shrine. While 30 bodies were recovered from the debris, two of those injured later died in hospital.
Authorities had already suspended the Himkoti trek route in the morning, but the old route remained open until the landslide forced a complete halt to the pilgrimage. Rescue operations are continuing, with fears that more people could still be trapped.
The home ministry has deployed 17 NDRF teams for large-scale operations. CRPF, BSF and other central agencies are assisting, with 32 special boats flown in for relief. The Home Ministry control room is monitoring the situation round the clock.
Jammu division situation
Meanwhile, heavy rain continues to batter the Jammu division. Divisional Commissioner Jammu Ramesh Kumar, in constant touch with authorities and convening a meeting of officers, said: “The entire Jammu division, barring Poonch and Rajouri districts, is still having rain, though of a lesser intensity.”
He confirmed that while the river Tawi’s level has receded, the Chenab continues to flow close to the danger mark. Restoration of electricity, water supply and mobile services is the immediate priority, with authorities working overnight.
More than 5,000 people were evacuated from the banks of various flooded rivers and inundated low-lying areas in the Jammu region as rescue agencies and the administration continued to reach out to stranded people in flood-hit Jammu and Samba districts.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah posted on X, "Spoke to Hon PM @narendramodi Sb a short while ago. I briefed him about the situation in J&K from the worst hit areas as I toured the parts of Jammu, along the banks of the Tawi, that saw a lot of damage yesterday. I’m grateful for his assurance of continued assistance to the people of J&K."
The phone and network services were restored across all networks in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, 24 hours after the damage to optical fibres caused outages in the Union territory, officials said.
"The phone and internet services, including mobile internet, fibre and landline internet, have been restored,” the officials said. The users can access 5G network speeds across the networks, they added.
The restoration came after optical fibre was re-connected in Jammu region.
Technical teams were put on the job immediately after the damage to fibre was reported at multiple locations amid heavy rainfall and floods in Jammu region that had led to network outage, the officials said.
The outage caused disruptions in banking services as well.
Jammu and Kashmir experienced network outages in all the service providers on Tuesday after torrential rain created havoc in most places, especially in the Jammu region.
The communication blackout impeded emergency response measures and caused panic among the residents.
In a late-night development on Tuesday, the Centre asked all the telecom service providers to immediately activate the intra-circle roaming (ICR) facility in J-K till September 2.
The directive has been passed to the regulatory heads of Bharti Airtel, BSNL, Reliance-Jio and Vodafone-ldea.
"In view of the prevailing situations due to heavy rainfall and multiple landslides in Jammu and Kashmir, and in accordance with Clause 29.6 of the unified licence and as per the provisions of SOP 2020 for responding to disasters, all telecom service providers are hereby instructed to activate the intra-circle roaming facility for the J-K Union Territory with immediate effect till 23:59 hours of September 2, or till further instructions, whichever is earlier," the disaster management unit of the Department of Telecommunications said in its order.
It said the ICR facility will continue to be extended to all in-roamers in J-K and this may be treated on top priority.
Jammu recorded 380 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours, making this the highest rainfall ever recorded in Jammu in a 24-hour period since 1910, when the observatory was established.
"More than 5,000 people were evacuated from low-lying flooded areas to safety. The Army, NDRF and SDRF are working in coordination with the Divisional Commissioner’s office," Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on X.
He added, "We are ensuring that there is an adequate supply of relief materials and all possible assistance is being given to those affected." Sinha said he spoke to Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar and other senior officials and took stock of the flood situation and rescue and relief operations.
Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, Rakesh Minhas said on X that more than 3,500 persons were rescued in Jammu district alone on Tuesday.
SDRF, NDRF, paramilitary forces, the Army and Air Force are coordinating with the civil administration. All schools and colleges remain shut, and people have been advised to avoid non-essential movement.
The historic Madhopur bridge, where Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee was arrested in 1953, has been damaged. Traffic on the bridge was stopped around 3 am on Wednesday.
Kumar appealed for calm and cooperation: without panic, people should support one another and work with the authorities. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally following up on the situation. Helpline numbers have been issued for all districts.
Political leaders express condolences
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X: "The loss of lives due to a landslide on the route to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Temple is saddening. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest. The administration is assisting all those affected. My prayers for everyone's safety and well-being."
Former Odisha chief minister said, "Deeply saddened to know about the loss of so many precious lives following a landslide near the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir. My thoughts and prayers are with the grieving families during this difficult time and praying for the swift recovery of those who have sustained injuries."
NCP(SP) working president Supriya Sule posted, "Deeply saddened to hear about the loss of lives following a landslide near the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir. My thoughts and prayers are with the families who have lost their loved ones and wishing the injured a speedy recovery."
A devotee, Satish Kumar from Banaras, described the scene: "The landslides started happening at the Garbh Joon Gufa temple (Ardhkuwari). The situation was chaotic. People started coming downwards via the Tarakote marg. The ambulances were running to and fro quickly. The yatra has been halted. The returnees are coming down via the Tarakote marg."
