SRINAGAR : A year after a devastating cloudburst-triggered flash flood killed 93 people at Chasoti in Kishtwar district, the remains of 30 victims are yet to be recovered, leaving families trapped between grief and the absence of a final farewell.
The tragedy struck on August 14 last year at Chasoti, the last motorable point on the route to the Machail Mata shrine, where hundreds of pilgrims had stopped at a makeshift market and community kitchen. A sudden torrent of water, boulders, trees and debris swept through the settlement, destroying the langar, market and a security outpost and burying people beneath the debris.
An RTI reply furnished by the Kishtwar district administration to Jammu-based activist Raman Kumar Sharma puts the official toll at 63 recovered bodies, 30 missing persons and 127 injured. The administration sanctioned Rs 2.52 crore under disaster-response norms for the families of the 63 deceased, at Rs 4 lakh per victim.
For some families, however, the absence of bodies has meant the absence of both closure and relief.
Sashastra Seema Bal Head Constable Hussan Dass, 38, lost his wife, two children, mother, sister, two nephews and sister-in-law in the disaster. Only his wife’s body was recovered.
Dass, who was posted in Bihar at the time, had spoken to his children over a video call on the morning of August 14 as the family returned from the pilgrimage. He left for duty at around 9 am and learnt of the disaster several hours later.
“I desperately tried to contact my family, but their phones were switched off,” he told PTI.
His wife Mumta Rani, 35, daughter Anansi Mehra, 8, son Arshil, 5, mother Jeeto Devi, 72, sister Jinny Devi, 42, nephew Ritik Mehra, 10, niece Pehu, 15, and sister-in-law Rahi Mehra, 32, had travelled to Machail Mata on August 12.
“They were my family. Only my wife’s body could be recovered, while the whereabouts of the others remain unknown,” Dass said.
Search teams, including personnel from his own SSB unit, combed the affected area for more than a month but failed to locate the missing members. Dass said he received compensation only for his wife because her death could be established through documentary evidence.
For him, however, the loss cannot be measured in monetary terms.
“No compensation can bring them back,” he said.
Dass is now left with his 80-year-old father, Mangal Dass, while continuing his service and caring for him.
Another bereaved relative, Sonu Kumar, lost his wife, son and daughter. He recalled his wife telling him before the pilgrimage that she had already visited the shrine twice and that this would be her “third and final” visit.
Kumar said he has received death certificates for his family members despite their bodies remaining untraced, but has not received compensation.
“Initially, we held on to the agonising hope that they might still be found alive, but as the days passed, that hope slowly faded,” he said.
The disaster was not merely a consequence of heavy rain. A University of Jammu study found that the cloudburst occurred around 8 km upstream of Chasoti and that the resulting flash flood was intensified by the valley’s steep terrain, landslides, sediment and temporary debris dams.
Satellite imagery, rainfall data and field assessments indicated that sediment deposited along the left bank of the Chasoti nullah contributed significantly to the flood. Active landslides and debris from a lower-order stream added large quantities of sediment to the channel, which gained momentum as it moved down the steep gradient.
The study noted that the stream channel drops around 40 metres within a kilometre upstream of Chasoti. Continuous sedimentation, landslides and temporary damming, combined with the steep gradient, increased the destructive force of the debris-laden flood.
The cloudburst occurred after the area received nearly 90 mm of highly localised rainfall. The narrow, steep valley and the concentration of pilgrims in makeshift structures magnified the impact.
The Kishtwar administration had faced criticism after the disaster for not halting the pilgrimage despite weather advisories issued by the Meteorological Department. Since the tragedy, authorities have been stopping pilgrims from proceeding towards the shrine after receiving adverse weather warnings.
Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Sunil Sharma, whose Kishtwar constituency includes the affected area, said the tragedy remained an “unforgettable and deeply painful memory”.
Sharma said he had repeatedly demanded relaxation of the rules governing compensation to families of missing persons, arguing that the chances of recovering their bodies from the Chenab river after a year were now virtually impossible.
He urged the government to extend financial assistance and other benefits to the families of those still missing.
Rehabilitation, reconstruction, restoration and safety works are under way in the area, Sharma said, with the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and an NGO also extending assistance.
But for the families of the 30 missing victims, a year after the torrent tore through Chasoti, reconstruction cannot erase the central uncertainty: they still do not know where their loved ones are.
