Amid relief and rescue operations continuing on war footing in, the Indian Army and disaster response teams plunged into action to rescue pilgrims stranded at the Machail Mata Temple. The pilgrims remained in the temple premises at a height after a cloudburst in Kishtwar district on Sunday that has killed at least 65 people and rendered over 100 injured.
Even as the weather hampered rescue operations at several places, NDRF ,Police and Para military forces have been leaving no stone unturned to establish connectivity and take out bodies from the huge debris. Visuals from the site show army personnel evacuating stranded pilgrims and recovering bodies from the affected area.
General Officer Commanding Counter Insurgency Force - Delta, Major General APS Bal, said security forces are working to rescue as many people as possible. Highlighting the Indian Army's rapid response, he added that troops reached the site within 45 minutes of the disaster.
Cleaning workers at the temple expressed their willingness to assist in relief operations. One worker said, "On July 22, I went to Machail, and I am a cleaning worker there. Today I came back. Everything is closed there. People who had their carts and hotels are returning here. We also want to lend a hand (for the relief work). Another worker estimated that around 100 people may still be stranded at the temple. He said, "I am a resident of Kishtwar and work as a cleaning worker. A lot of people have died, and we are still scared. If the mishap would not have happened, a lot of people would have been at the temple. There might be about 100 people there (in Machail)."
Expressing grief, he added, "I clean the temple. This should not have happened. There is nothing left to see, everyone is in shock and tears. Though administration and entire UT machinary is active in offering help at every step, yet chaos and confusion prevails as many families have been separated after the mishap. Waiting for each other, some do not even know whether the members of their families are dead or stranded at places.
"Meanwhile, Punjab resident Mandeep Saini made an emotional appeal to the government to locate his wife and mother-in-law, who went missing in the August 14 cloudburst in Chasoti village. Saini had visited Kishtwar to drop his wife at her parents' home for Rakshabandhan on August 9. She went for darshan at Machail Mata Mandir on August 12, after Saini returned to Punjab. "The remaining six people with them are coming back. It's been four days, and we still have no clue where the two of them are. My mind is not functioning. I last spoke to her at Udhampur station... All of us are really worried. I have only one request for the government: please locate both of them. I have no other request except to please find them."
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