By Shishir Prashant PrashantNews
Just at a time when the media is busy finding reasons behind the Aug 5 Dharali disaster in Uttarakhand, yet another catastrophe struck Jammu’s Kishtwar region in the lap of Himalayas.
The magnitude of the Aug 14 devastation in Kishtwar’s Chisoti village during the Machail Mata yatra was much bigger. But unlike Dharali, there were hardly any dramatic videos of the Chisoti devastation. In the Machail yatra, most of the pilgrims were locals from the Jammu region.
Top media channels also couldn’t focus on the extent of the tragedy, finding the task to reach the remote village highly arduous. The devastation struck at a time when lots of people had gathered for langer (community kitchen) at Chisoti.
The jawans of the Indian Army aided by NDRF, SDRF and local administration were busy round the clock in the relief and rescue operations on the war footing. When the skies burst over the Machail Mata Yatra route at 12:45 am, Indian Army rescue columns moved instantly, shoulder-to-shoulder with J&K Police, civil administration & SDRF, into debris-choked streams and collapsing banks to pull people out people — some alive, some injured and some even dead.
It will be too early to say what really happened in Kishtwar? But initial reports indicated that there was a cloudburst. Unfortunately, scientists and environmentalists are not showing much interest in the Kishtwar tragedy. In Dharali, some scientists and environmentalists claimed that the disaster was a fallout of the widening of the Chardham all weather road, unregulated constructions and big tourist rush.
Till now, it is not clear as to how many people have lost their lives in Chisoti which many believed was triggered by the calamitous flash floods coupled with big boulders and mudslides quite similar to what happened in Dharali.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who is trying to reach Chisoti village said 60 people have been killed and 100 injured. Nearly 160-190 people have been rescued also. But Omar’s father and former CM Dr Farooq Abdullah claimed between 500-1000 people might have gone missing in the tragedy.
Within the next few days, the government may release the official figures of the casualties in Chisoti. But the fact remains that the Chisoit disaster occurred in just a short span of 10 days after Dharali. In the last 12 years, the Himalayas have witnessed devastations after devastations. Be it Kedarnath in 2013 or Rishiganga in 2021, the calamities are creating havoc. Will there be any more devastation? It is anybody’s guess.
