Chisoti, Kishtwar: Two more bodies were recovered from debris in the cloudburst-hit village of Chisoti in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, raising the death toll from the disaster to 63, officials said. Rescue operations continued on Monday for the fifth consecutive day despite intermittent rainfall.
Teams in raincoats worked across multiple locations, particularly near a langar (community kitchen) site, using machinery, sniffer dogs, and earth movers to sift through rubble. Among the two bodies recovered this afternoon was a woman, found downstream in a gorge near Kukundra village, while the other was located buried near a temple.
The flash floods, triggered by the August 14 cloudburst in Chisoti—the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple—have claimed 63 lives, including three CISF personnel and one Special Police Officer. So far, 167 people have been rescued, and the number of missing has been revised to 39.
The Army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps reported on X that five relief columns are actively involved in rescue and relief operations, with additional medical teams deployed. A bridge over Chisoti Nala, completed on August 17 despite challenging terrain and weather, has expedited relief and evacuation efforts. Additional equipment and senior Army officials have been deployed on-site to oversee operations, with close coordination continuing with civil agencies.
Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha announced that 10 senior IAS and IPS officers will be posted in Chisoti over the next eight days to supervise relief and rescue operations. Each two-day period will have one IAS and one IPS officer overseeing the efforts.
The cloudburst-induced flash floods caused widespread 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, and a 30-meter-long bridge, in addition to over a dozen vehicles.
“Today marks the fifth day of operations. Despite challenging weather and heavy rain warnings, joint efforts continue to recover the missing,” said a CISF officer.
Rescue operations involve police, Army, NDRF, SDRF, CISF, BRO, civil administration, and local volunteers. Army engineers recently constructed a Bailey bridge over Chisoti nullah, improving connectivity to the village and the Machail Mata shrine. All-terrain vehicles and controlled explosions to remove large boulders have also been used to intensify relief efforts.
The annual Machail Mata yatra, which started on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, has been suspended for the fifth consecutive day. Authorities, however, will allow a group of devotees carrying the ‘Charri’ from Jammu. The 8.5-km trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine begins from Chisoti, about 90 km from Kishtwar town.
