Chisoti (Kishtwar), August 21, 2025 : The multi-agency search operation in cloudburst-hit Kishtwar entered its eighth day on Thursday as teams intensified efforts to trace 33 missing persons.
The calamity, which struck Chisoti village en route to the Machail Mata shrine on August 14, has so far claimed 65 lives, including three CISF personnel and a J&K Police SPO. Over 100 people were injured.
Officials said the operation is focused on three key sites — the langar (community kitchen) area, the cluster of washed-away houses, and the Bhuat nallah in Gulabgarh-Paddar. Joint teams of the Army, Police, NDRF, SDRF, CISF, BRO, civil administration, and local volunteers are involved in the mission.
Search teams are combing the 22-km stream stretch from Chisoti to Gulabgarh, where two bodies were recently recovered downstream. Heavy-duty trucks, earthmovers, sniffer dogs, and controlled explosions are being used to clear debris and giant boulders blocking access. The 13th Battalion of NDRF is leading operations along the riverbed.
Senior IAS and IPS officers, deputed on the directions of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, are monitoring efforts on the ground. Officials confirmed that some body parts of the missing have been recovered, with DNA identification underway.
The cloudburst left massive destruction — flattening a makeshift market and langar, damaging 16 houses, government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre bridge, and more than a dozen vehicles.
To restore connectivity, Army engineers built a Bailey bridge over the Chisoti nallah on Sunday, while all-terrain vehicles were also deployed for rescue and relief.
The Machail Mata Yatra, suspended for seven days, remains on hold, though a special group of devotees carrying the “Charri” from Jammu is expected to reach the shrine on August 21 or 22. The pilgrimage involves an 8.5-km trek to the shrine at 9,500 ft from Chisoti, about 90 km from Kishtwar town.
