Three-Member Committee To Probe Vaishno Devi Landslide That Killed 35

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has ordered a probe into Tuesday's landslide at Mata Vaishno Devi, in which 35 pilgrims were killed. A three-member probe committee has been constituted and will be required to submit its report within two weeks.

The probe was ordered after strong public resentment and protests in Katra against the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board for not stopping the Yatra despite a red alert and weather advisory. Mr Sinha is the chairman of the Shrine Board.

Today Mr Sinha constituted a three-member panel headed by additional chief secretary Shaleen Kabra to investigate reasons behind the incident. Divisional Commissioner of Jammu and Inspector General of Police of the Jammu zone are the two other members of the probe committee.

Along the 12 km-long Vaishno Devi Yatra track, a landslide hit Ardhkuwari on Tuesday, causing the deaths of 35 pilgrims. Mr Sinha had claimed that the Yatra was stopped before a cloudburst. But scores of pilgrims who survived the landslide said no one was stopped before the tragedy and Yatra was allowed to proceed despite heavy rains and strong winds in Trikuta hills in Katra. "I was at Ardhkuwari when the landslide hit the Yatra on Tuesday. No one stopped us despite heavy rain accompanied by strong winds," said Ashok, a pilgrim from Delhi.

Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said that responsibility should be fixed and those helming the Shrine Board should be held accountable. "If schools were closed after a red alert and weather advisory, why did the Shrine Board not stop the Yatra?" he asked.

The landslide came a day after the Jammu and Kashmir government had closed educational institutions on Monday amid heavy rains. Jammu received 380 mm of rainfall within 24 hours on Monday and Tuesday.

Questions have been raised about the fate of an earlier probe into a stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi on January 1, 2022, in which a dozen pilgrims were killed and scores injured.  After the stampede, Mr Sinha constituted a three-member high-level panel to probe the incident and submit its report within one week. Three years on, the report was never made public and no one was held accountable.

This is the second such incident within two weeks when a weather advisory was ignored and a yatra allowed in Jammu and Kashmir, causing deaths of dozens of pilgrims.

Over 100 pilgrims were killed, and several are still missing after a cloudburst and flash floods hit the Machail Yatra in Kishtwar district on August 14. Days before the tragedy, a warning of rain and flash floods was issued, but the Yatra was not stopped.