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‘Rocks came rolling down’: Pilgrims recall close shave
The cloudburst occurred on Friday evening near the base camp outside the shrine, triggering flash floods and landslides that rummaged through 25 tents and three langars (community kitchens).
A stampede-like situation unfolded, and rocks came rolling down... The situation was horrifying, said Deepak Chouhan, a survivor of the cloudburst and flash flood near the Amarnath cave shrine that has killed 15 people and injured 63 others.
The cloudburst occurred on Friday evening near the base camp outside the shrine, triggering flash floods and landslides that rummaged through 25 tents and three langars (community kitchens). Officials said 15,000 stranded pilgrims have already been shifted to the lower base camps of Panjtarni and Baltal, located 6 and 14 kilometers away from the shrine, while those injured are being treated at the SKIMS hospital in Srinagar even as operations continued to find 40 people still missing.
Recounting the narrow escape, Telangana BJP MLA T Raja Singh, who was visiting the shrine along with his family members, said: “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.”
Another survivor, Maharashtra-based Sumit, recalled how the gushing water washed away the tents. “When the cloudburst took place, we could not believe it. After a while, we only saw water everywhere. We all had a harrowing experience as we witnessed people and bags being swept away by strong waves. Within 10 minutes, eight casualties were reported. We were a group of nine people and all of us were thankfully saved,” he said.
Bipul Ghosh (48), a resident of Lake Town in Kolkata, left for the shrine on July 5 with an eight-member team and is currently stuck at the Pahalgam army base camp as the yatra has been suspended. “We were scheduled to start the trek today (Saturday). This morning, the army announced that pilgrims won’t be able to go to the cave. We heard that roads have been washed away,” Ghosh told HT over the phone.
Many states have set up helplines for information about people who went for the yatra as family members await their safe return.
Soma Singh, a resident of Kalibabu Bazar in West Bengal’s Howrah, last spoke with his sister, Jhuma, around 6 pm on Friday.
Singh’s septuagenarian mother and two sisters left for the Amarnath yatra on July 2.
“She called me around 6 pm and said that our mother was missing and that they were not being able to find her. We know nothing more as the connection was very poor and the call got disconnected. Since then, we all have been calling them. While Jhuma’s phone is switched off, Preity is not taking calls. We are all tensed,” said Singh.
Another pilgrim, Dibyendu Roy (50), left for the pilgrimage on July 5 with some friends and is currently stuck at a camp.
“He said he was fine and everyone in the group was safe. They were in the base camp. The connection was very poor. I had warned him that the mountains are very dangerous during the monsoon,” said Suvendu Roy, his brother.
“My father is still stuck. I want him to come back safely. I just want to see him,” said Sudisha Roy, Diyendu’s daughter.
However, undeterred by the incident, many devotees thronged the Amarnath Yatra base camp in Jammu on Saturday with a “high degree of enthusiasm and devotion” for their onward journey to the cave shrine situated at a height of 3,880 metres in the south Kashmir Himalayas. They said they have no fear and have full faith in Lord Shiva, adding that it would be a great privilege for them if they die in the abode of the god.
The 43-day annual pilgrimage started on June 30 from the twin routes -- the 48-km route from Nunwan in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam and the 14-km shorter Baltal route in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir. The pilgrimage to the cave shrine is being held after a gap of three years. In 2019, the pilgrimage was cancelled midway ahead of the Centre abrogating Article 370 provisions of the Constitution. The pilgrimage did not take place in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.
With agency inputs
