CM Omar Abdullah reaches Kishtwar, says PM Modi assured all support

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday evening arrived in Kishtwar for his onward visit to disaster-hit Chasoti village of the district on Saturday to assess the damage caused to the area. Abdullah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured all support to the government.

A massive cloudburst led to flash floods in the remote mountain village in Kishtwar on Thursday, killing at least 60 people, including two CISF personnel, and trapping many more. Rescuers worked frantically and pulled out 167 people from under mounds of rubble.

Of these, 38 are in serious condition, officials said.

“Chief Minister reached Kishtwar and met locals who shared accounts of the ground situation about the Chasoti cloudburst,” the Department of Information said on X.

Speaking to media persons, the chief minister said he has talked to Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this connection. “The PM expressed grief over the loss of precious lives. The prime minister assured that there will be no shortage of support from the Centre for whatever assistance we require,” he said.

Abdullah, who will visit the cloudburst-hit village on Saturday, termed it a very big tragedy and extremely unfortunate incident. He put the figures of confirmed deaths at 60 and missing between 60 and 70.

 “However, some people are exaggerating the figures. Rescue operations are underway to search for the missing,” he added.

The chief minister questioned the reason behind the deaths and said, “We will also have to sit and discuss why this happened.” Pointing towards warnings by the MeT Department regarding weather conditions, Abdullah said, “We need to see whether the administration should have taken certain steps to save these precious lives. We will have to sit together and talk about this.”

Abdullah earlier in the day said on X, “I will be leaving for Kishtwar later this afternoon and will be going to the scene of the cloudburst tragedy early tomorrow morning to see, first-hand, the extent of the damage.” He further said that he would review the rescue operation and assess what further help is required.