Amid the controversy over the Vaishnodevi Shrine Board, headed by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, allowing the yatra to continue despite a severe weather alert that claimed 35 lives in a landslide, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to arrive here on 31 August for a two-day visit to review the flood situation.
The Home Minister is expected to visit the flood-hit areas of Kishtwar and other places.
More than 102 pilgrims have lost their lives in the cloudburst and landslide at Chishoti (Kishtwar) and Vaishno Devi within a period of 12 days. Besides, about 40 people missing after the cloudburst at Chishoti on 14 August are now feared dead. Another 7 people, including 5 children, were killed in a cloudburst on 17 August in the Kathua district. At least 7 others were washed away in flash floods at different places in J&K.
The failure of the authorities to fix accountability, particularly for the deaths of pilgrims at Chishoti and Vaishno Devi, has triggered a controversy with allegations that the officials concerned had ignored the severe weather alerts.
In its first official statement on the catastrophe, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) on Friday said “the event was a force majeure”.
National Conference Additional General Secretary and former minister, Ajay Kumar Sadhotra, on Friday strongly pitched for a judicial inquiry into the avoidable, tragic death of pilgrims following a landslide on the Vaishno Devi Shrine route, saying the catastrophe could have been avoided with timely precautionary measures.
Expressing deep shock and anguish over the loss of precious lives, Sadhotra said, “The tragedy is not merely an act of nature but a grim reminder of the administration and Shri Mata Vashino Devi Shrine board’s failure to suspend the yatra immediately in view of heavy rains and inclement weather warnings.”
The National Conference Additional General Secretary said that responsibility must be fixed and accountability enforced at every level. “There is a need for a thorough, transparent, and credible judicial probe that establishes the truth, identifies the guilty, and ensures such negligence is never repeated,” he said.
Meanwhile, the SMVDSB “categorically denied the allegations of disregard for weather advisories as false and baseless”.
“The weather conditions had remained clear and conducive for pilgrimage on the 26th of August morning until around 10 AM, during which time the yatra proceeded normally, so much so that even the helicopter services were operating seamlessly during that time. In fact, the Board had made elaborate arrangements for positioning its enforcement staff and Disaster Management Task Force along the entire track as per its established standard operating procedure. The Board monitored weather updates closely, and as soon as the forecast for moderate rains was received, registrations were immediately suspended.”
“The location where this unfortunate disaster happened was near Inderprastha Bhojanalya on the old track, which is one of the safest locations. However, nature’s fury struck in the form of a sudden, severe cloudburst in this stretch of around 50 meters only, which triggered the massive landslide at 2:40 PM. It was unpredictable and unforeseen from any count”.
“The Shrine Board’s Disaster Management Task Force responded in close coordination with the District Administration, Reasi, J&K Police, CRPF, Army, NDRF, SDRF, and volunteers, launching swift evacuation and relief operations. The Board reiterates that every reasonable precaution was taken, keeping in view the weather forecasts. The unfortunate cloudburst resulting in loss of precious lives was not humanly foreseeable and was thus beyond anyone’s anticipation or control,” the SMVDSB added.