Srinagar, Aug 16 (KNO): Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday directed officials to intensify relief and rescue operations at cloudburst hit Chashoti village in Kishtwar district.
In a post on X, the Lieutenant Governor, according to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) wrote: "Spoke to Senior Officials and took stock of the rescue and relief operations at Chashoti, Kishtwar. I will ensure the reconstruction of homes damaged in flash floods. I've also directed the senior officials for immediate relief and uninterrupted essential supplies to the affected.”
Meanwhile, rescue and relief operation continued for the third consecutive day on Saturday in Chashoti village, where 60 people lost their lives and over 100 others were injured and 75 are reported missing.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh, accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat, visited the devastated village late Friday night and reviewed ongoing rescue and relief efforts carried out by the police, army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), civil administration, and local volunteers operating in the high-altitude terrain.
So far, 46 bodies have been identified and handed over to their next of kin after completion of legal formalities. Meanwhile, 75 persons have been reported missing by their families, although locals and eyewitnesses claim that hundreds may have been swept away by flash floods and buried under giant boulders, logs, and rubble.
The disaster struck Chashoti—the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple—at approximately 12:25 pm on August 14.
At least 16 residential houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-meter-long bridge, and over a dozen vehicles were also damaged in the flash floods.
Rescue efforts were intensified with the deployment of nearly a dozen earth-movers by the civil administration and the use of specialized equipment and dog squads by the NDRF—(KNO)