A week after cloudburst hit Chisoti in Jammu and Kashmir, the recovery of almost as many severed limbs as intact bodies have left villagers and doctors at the Atholi sub-district hospital shaken.
The hospital is located about 30 km from the affected area.
Earlier this week on Monday, an intact body and a severed leg were recovered during rescue operations, Times of India reported. A day later on Tuesday, four more bodies and two severed feet were recovered, taking the death toll in the disaster to 68.
Kishtwar district commissioner Pankaj Sharma said that the bodies and limbs recovered had been sent to GMC Kishtwar for DNA profiling, adding that DNA samples of kins had been collected and were being matched with the bodies recoevered from the debris.
Sharma said that while there was no clear picture of those missing initially, in the days after the floods, the kin of the missing pilgrims had come forward and shared information with the command and control centre set up by the administration.
“Initially, 137 people were reported missing, out of whom 62 were rescued alive,” Sharma said.
{{/usCountry}}“Initially, 137 people were reported missing, out of whom 62 were rescued alive,” Sharma said.
{{/usCountry}}However, Dr Rakesh Kotwal, posted at the Atholi sub-district hospital, said that the final toll could be much higher. “The way things are, the toll will not stop here,” Times of India quoted Kotwal as saying.
Flash floods, triggered by a cloudburst, hit Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar on August 14. A large group of pilgrims were gathered at the Chisoti village, which is a key stop on the pilgrimage to the Hindu shrine Machail Mata Mandir, and were collecting food from a langar (community kitchen) when the floods washed them away.
The floods also flattened a makeshift market, damaged 16 houses and government buildings, three temples, a 30-metre-long bridge and four water mills, PTI reported.
The rescue efforts are underway, with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), CISF, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), civil administration, army and police engaged, along with local volunteers.