Heavy rains triggered powerful floods in a Himalayan mountain village in Indian-administered Kashmir on Thursday, killing at least 37 people, according to a senior disaster management official. The village, Chisoti in Kishtwar district, was struck by a “cloudburst” of intense rain, marking the second deadly flooding disaster in India this month.
Mohammad Irshad, a top disaster management official, said 150 injured people were rescued from the site, including 50 severely hurt, and transported to nearby hospitals. Crowds gathered at a Kishtwar hospital as survivors carried some of the injured on stretchers. District commissioner Pankaj Kumar Sharma warned that more bodies could be discovered. Residents reported seeing multiple casualties brought to local medical facilities.
Chisoti village lies on a Hindu pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata shrine. Officials said a large makeshift kitchen housing over 100 unregistered pilgrims was completely washed away. Rescue efforts were hampered by damaged roads and difficult terrain, prompting soldiers to join the operation. The village is over 125 miles by road from Srinagar, the region’s main city.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged that “every possible assistance will be provided to those in need.” Earlier this month, floods swept through Dharali in Uttarakhand state, burying the town in mud with a likely death toll exceeding 70. Experts say that monsoon-season floods and landslides are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change and poorly planned development. The U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization has warned that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a warning of a more unpredictable global water cycle.
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