LG holds high level meet to review situation
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, July 9: The death toll in the yesterday’s flash flood triggered by heavy rain near Shri Amarnath Ji cave shrine rose to 16 today as the search operations continued without a break amid fears that many are still trapped under the debris.
Officials said 15,000 stranded pilgrims were shifted to the lower base camp of Panchtarni and 28 injured people were rushed to hospitals after the flash flood and landslides rummaged through tents and community kitchens yesterday near the holy cave.
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According to a senior Army officer, mountain rescue teams and lookout patrols with high-tech equipment and sniffer dogs have been deployed for the search and rescue operation.
“Air rescue operations started this morning and six pilgrims were evacuated by Army helicopters. The military medical teams are receiving patients and casualties at the Nilgrah helipad for onward evacuation,” Senior Army Officer, Sachin Sharma said.
He said 28 injured were brought to Army Hospital and they were given treatment there. He said those with serious injuries were shifted to Srinagar for specialised treatment. He said Indian Army, NDRF,SDRF, BSF, CRPF and local police have launched rescue operations and they are working in full coordination in evacuating trapped yatris to safer places and rescuing people from the debris.
He, however, said no time frame can be given when the rescue operation will be completed and when all the trapped people can be evacuated.
He said eight choppers of Army, Air Force and BSF have been put into service for rescue and relief operations in the cave shrine area.
He said more than seven Rescue teams are in operation. Three teams were sent yesterday and fourth team was dispatched today from Sheshnag to cave shrine area where the tragedy took place yesterday. He said 16 people died while 40 are still missing. He said rescue operations were stopped at 4-30 am due to heavy rains and later started at 6 am.
The Indian Army chopper is bringing the yatris from cave to downstream and sniffer dogs were put into service to search the bodies under debris at the site of tragedy.
An Mi-17 chopper of the BSF’s Air Wing has been pressed into service. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has also deployed advanced light helicopters for rescue operations.
A Border Security Force (BSF) spokesperson in Delhi said, “16 bodies have been shifted to Baltal.”
Among the dead, five have been identified who include Mohan Lal Badhava, son of Raj Kumar Badhava of Ganganagar , Rajasthan, Virmati, 62, wife of Bal Krishan of Ambedkar Nagar, Madangir, South Delhi, Sunita Babhava wife of Mohan Lal Babhava of Ganganagar Rajasthan, Parkashi, wife of Jai Narayan, 57, of Madangir, Ambedkar Nagar, New Delhi and Sushil Khatri, son of Budhraj of Rajasthan, A.I Mansover Sri Ganganagar.
Reports said Sushil Khatri who has retired as head of Police Station, Sri Ganga Nagar, Rajasthan on June 30 had come to yatra along with a group of 17 pilgrims from Rajasthan on July 3. He was washed away by flash floods at cave shrine while rescuing some pilgrims. This die hard former cop without caring for his life showed a great valour in saving the lives of other pilgrims. The surviving yatris have saluted his valour.
The ITBP has expanded its route opening and protection parties from the lower part of the holy cave up to Panchtarni, a spokesperson of the force said.
Additional Director General of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Vijay Kumar, who holds charge of the Kashmir range, reached the holy cave shrine this morning to supervise the rescue operations being conducted by security forces and the National Disaster Response Force.
He said the rescuers were clearing the debris to look for survivors as the administration was cross-checking the data of pilgrims to get the exact number of casualties. Every pilgrim has been provided with a Radio Frequency Identification card this time because of terror threats.
Among those who escaped the tragedy was Telangana BJP MLA T Raja Singh. The legislator and his family members, who reached Amarnath by a helicopter, decided to ride ponies on their way back as the weather began deteriorating.
“We sensed that the weather suddenly changed for the worse. In that circumstance, the helicopter service would also be cancelled. So we decided to descend the hills riding ponies. I could see the rains on the hills and then several tents got swept away in the floods,” Raja Singh told reporters on Friday night.
The annual pilgrimage, which began on June 30, has been suspended following the tragedy and a decision on its resumption will be taken after rescue operations get over, a senior administration official said.
Raju Bab Singh IG BSF told reporters that efforts are on to save the injured and all medical facilities are being provided to them.
The official sources said that the debris which blocked the track on way to holy cave will be fully cleared by tomorrow evening provided weather remains clear.
Additional Chief Secretary Home, R K Goel, Director General Police, Dilbag Singh, and Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, P K Pole also visited the holy cave area to monitor the relief and rescue operations. They were accompanied by General Manager Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) R K Bhat.
“Most of the pilgrims, who were stranded near the holy cave shrine area due to the flash flood, have been shifted to Panchtarni. The evacuation continued till 3.38 am. No pilgrim is left on the track. About 15,000 people have been safely shifted till now,” the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) spokesperson said.
The BSF spokesperson said medical staff of the paramilitary force treated nine patients who were critically injured in the floods. “They have been shifted to the lower-altitude Neelgrath base camp.”
A team of BSF personnel has been deployed at the Neelgrath helipad to assist the pilgrims coming from the cave shrine. About 150 pilgrims stayed at the BSF camp set up in Panchtarni on Friday night and 15 patients have been airlifted to Baltal on Saturday morning, he said.
The injured were being treated at the Nilkant camp in Sonamarg. An Integrated Command Centre (ICC) has been set up under the charge of the Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir while helpline numbers have been established in Anantnag in South Kashmir, Srinagar and in Delhi for families of pilgrims to know about the wellbeing of their kin.
An Army official said an Infantry Battalion led by a Colonel along with Quick Reaction Teams, an additional company from the Rashtriya Rifles Sector and a team from Special Forces have reached the shrine with specialised rescue equipment to undertake the operation.
“Through the night, the senior Army officers of the infantry battalion and Rashtriya Rifles oversaw and coordinated rescue operations. Medical resources at the cave and at Nilgrah were activated and additional resources deployed,” he said.
Nine surveillance detachments with hand-held thermal imagers, night-vision devices and other gadgets were deployed for the search operations, the official said
“Two advanced light helicopters were moved for casualty evacuation at the holy cave. However, owing to bad weather, night landing at the cave was unsuccessful. Two Through-Wall Radars and two search and rescue dog squads were also moved to the cave,” he added.
About 5000 pilgrims today left towards Baltal from Panchtarni to leave for their native places. Some of them left without darshan of Ice Lingam following the yesterday’s tragedy. The authorities have suspended the yatra temporarily to holy cave till track is cleared for pilgrimage.
According to reports, about 25,000 pilgrims were camping at Baltal and Panchtarni yesterday night.
Sources said this area has a history of cloudbursts since 2010 at alternative years. Last year too when there was no yatra a heavy cloudburst took place at the same place but as there were not tents and community kitchens so there was no damage.
However, notwithstanding the flash floods and the deaths, the 11th batch of over 6,000 Amarnath pilgrims left Jammu city today for the twin base camps in Kashmir.
But they were not allowed to leave for base camps and 2034 pilgrims among them were who had preferred Baltal track were halted at Chanderkot Yatri Niwas in Ramban district by the authorities and 1500 each who had preferred Chandanwari track were halted at Walnut Factory Qazigund and FCI Godowns, Mir Bazar in Kulgam district of South Kashmir.
Meanwhile District Development Commissioner, Jammu, Avny Lavasa has said that there will be no yatra from Jammu towards holy cave in view of inclement weather. She has appealed the pilgrims not to reach Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas and instead go to other lodging centres in the city.
Meanwhie Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha chaired a high level meeting earlier today to review the ongoing rescue and relief operation at Shri Amarnath Ji holy cave.
The meeting attended by GOC 15 Corps, DGP, ACS Home, Special DG CID, ADGP Kashmir, AOC Air force, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and senior officials, observed two-minute silence to pay tribute to devotees who lost their lives in the unfortunate incident yesterday.
Lt Gen AS Aujla, GOC 15 Corps and Dilbag Singh, DGP briefed the Lt Governor about the ongoing rescue efforts at the holy cave. The GOC said all the agencies involved in the rescue and relief operation are working in excellent coordination and they are well equipped to clear the debris.
The Lt Governor said the effort should be made to clear the debris within shortest period of time. DGP while briefing the Lt Governor about the injured devotees said, majority of the injured have already been discharged and few others being treated at base hospital and Srinagar are likely to be discharged within 24 hours.
The Lt Governor said teams from Army, CAPFs, NDRF & SDRF are on the ground and doing commendable job.
“I request Yatris to stay put in camps. Administration is providing all facilities for their comfortable stay. We are trying our best to restore the Yatra at the earliest,” the Lt Governor said.
He also directed the senior officials, Deputy Commissioners and Camp directors to ensure best possible facilities are provided to the pilgrims staying at camps.
Earlier, the Lt Governor had visited SKIMS to enquire about the health of injured pilgrims and subsequently went to PCR Srinagar where he was briefed about the status of sending the mortal remains of deceased pilgrims to their respective hometowns.
R K Goyal, Additional Chief Secretary Home Department; RR Swain, Special DG CID; Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir; AOC Air Force, besides Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor, Pandurang K Pole, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and senior officials attended the meeting at Raj Bhawan.
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