Srinagar, August 19, 2025 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said hopes of finding survivors from the devastating Chisoti cloudburst in Kishtwar are fading, and announced that a team of experts will be formed to identify high-risk areas to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
“With every passing day, the hope of survival for the 70 missing persons is diminishing. Our focus is now on retrieving the bodies so families can perform the final rites,” Abdullah told reporters. He assured that the government will extend all possible help to the affected families.
Clarifying that the tragedy was caused by a cloudburst and not a glacial lake burst, Abdullah said: “We must get expert views on how to prevent such incidents and, if they occur, how to minimise losses.”
The cloudburst struck Chisoti village—the last motorable stop en route to the Machail Mata temple—on August 14, triggering flash floods that flattened markets, langar sites, and several houses. The death toll has climbed to 64, including three CISF personnel and one J&K police SPO, while 167 people have been rescued. The number of missing has dropped to 39 after a fresh revision of the list.
Abdullah also touched on political issues, saying the INDIA bloc candidate should win the Vice President election, and criticised NCERT’s changes to Partition history, calling it “fiddling with history for politics.” On opposition criticism of his statehood campaign, he said: “Our job is to work for the people; their job is to oppose.”
