Kishtwar Cloudburst: Multi-Agency Search Operation Intensifies To Trace 33 Missing

Senior IAS and IPS officials, deputed on the directions of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, are supervising the operation on the ground.
The flash floods triggered by the cloudburst left a trail of destruction, flattening a makeshift market and a langar site for the annual Machail Mata yatra, damaging 16 houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre-long bridge, besides over a dozen vehicles.
Army engineers on Sunday built a Bailey bridge over the Chisoti nullah, restoring much-needed connectivity to the village and the Machail Mata shrine.
The Army has also inducted a couple of all-terrain vehicles as part of efforts to intensify the rescue and relief operation.
The rescuers also carried out over half a dozen controlled explosions to blow up giant boulders hampering the search.
The annual Machail Mata yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the seventh consecutive day on Wednesday.
However, authorities will allow a group of devotees carrying the ”Charri” from Jammu, who are expected to reach the shrine on August 21 or 22. The 8.5-km trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine starts from Chisoti, located about 90 km from Kishtwar town. (Agencies