Kishtwar Disaster: Day 5: Rescue efforts battle weather

Jammu, Aug 18: Searches to trace missing and signs of life, deep buried under the mounds of deluge and big boulders, entered day five in cloudburst-hit Chisoti village in Kishtwar district on Monday, yet persisting inclement weather condition continued to play villain, impacting the pace of relief and rescue operation.

On the fifth day, the teams engaged in search operations, braving torrential rains; however, they managed to retrieve the dead body of a woman, identified as 24-year-old Vaishali Devi.

The retrieval was made around 7 to 8 km away from Chisoti in Bhot nullah near Kukundrav village, thus taking the official death toll to 64, while around 70 or so continued to remain missing.

The heartening aspect was the completion of bailey bridge by the Indian Army engineers on Sunday evening, giving a major push to the restoration of connectivity snapped since August 14, 2025, the day a flash flood washed away two crucial links, including a foot bridge, besides damages of gigantic scale, mainly in terms of life.

Indian Army, which is actually leading the relief and rescue operations right from day one, in perfect synergy with the personnel of Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), local volunteers and the officials of civil administration, has stated to have further intensified its efforts to speed up the pace of ongoing evacuation process by moving in additional medical teams and equipment (including heavy machinery) for searches. The Army has moved in All Terrain Vehicles also to the site of the disaster.

“Five relief columns of the White Knight Corps are engaged in rescue and relief operations. Efforts have been further intensified with additional medical teams deployed. Despite adverse terrain and weather, a bridge over the Chisoti nullah was completed on August 17, expediting relief and evacuation. Additional equipment is being moved forward to strengthen operations,” the Army said.

A foot bridge and an under-construction motorable bridge, whose work was nearing completion, were washed away in the flash floods and mudslides triggered by a cloudburst on August 14.

Officials hoped that the bailey bridge would restore connectivity and help speed up evacuation in close coordination with civil agencies.

“Senior Army functionaries are on the ground to oversee relief and rescue. Close coordination with civil agencies continues to expedite relief efforts. We serve, we protect,” White Knight (16) Corps posted on ‘X’ with a video giving a peek into the efforts being undertaken on the ground-zero.

Another important aspect on day 5 was the visit of Additional Director General (ADG) of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Sudhir Kumar to Chisoti village to take stock of the situation.

While responding to queries of media persons, ADG CISF said, “We have also lost three CISF personnel, out of 25 deployed in Chisoti for the security of Shri Machail Mata pilgrims, in the tragedy of August 14, while one is still missing. We suffered losses as tragedy also impacted one of our barracks. According to CISF personnel, who were eye-witnesses to the disaster, hardly 18 seconds of cloudburst ravaged everything, bringing down the entire hill and everything else that came its way.”

Describing CISF personnel as the first responders to the disaster, ADG Kumar said that many pilgrims, including women and children, were saved by them (CISF personnel), who survived the tragedy.

“Following the disaster, we also deployed around 150 more (CISF) personnel, moved from other locations including Kishtwar and Dul Hasti power projects, to Chisoti to expedite relief and rescue operations. In perfect synergy with other agencies, they are meeting challenges in a professional manner as they are trained for every situation,” Kumar said.

Regarding the status of rescue operations in progress, he said that 20 to 22 JCBs were pressed into service and deep blasting was being contemplated to speed up pace of operation.

Responding to a question about the missing weapons of CISF personnel in the tragedy, ADG said that things would be clearer after stock verification; however, seemingly, they (weapons) seemed to be intact.

“In any case, the issue would be addressed accordingly after stock verification,” he said.

On Sunday, the Army officials had stated that 100 Community Protection Layers (CPLs) were deployed in addition to machinery in Chisoti.

“One excavator with a rock breaker reached the site. One self-propelled medium rock drill was utilised to drill holes, and two controlled blasts were done to break the big boulders, as they had stalled the rescue operations, and bodies are likely to be buried under these boulders,” they said, adding that it was done at the request of the district administration.

“More blasts will be undertaken in the coming days,” PRO Defence said.

Regarding the updated status of the injured, Deputy Medical Superintendent, In-charge Emergency, Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu Dr Bharat Bhushan said that four patients were critical, while out of 24, who were operated on, 22 were stable, one was critical, and one succumbed.

Forty-three injured were stable, and 47 were undergoing treatment.

The maximum injured under treatment at GMCH, Jammu were from Jammu district (50), followed by Samba, Kishtwar and Udhampur, six each.