"Why Wasn't Yatra Stopped": Stranded Vaishno Devi Pilgrims Ask After Landslide Kills 34

Hundreds of pilgrims are stranded in Jammu and Kashmir's Katra for three days after a cloudburst and landslide hit the Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra trek, killing 34 people. They said the tragedy could have been averted if the Yatra had been stopped after an early warning of heavy rain.

Many eyewitnesses who survived Tuesday's tragedy told NDTV that Yatra was only stopped after a landslide hit the trek, and many pilgrims were killed and injured.

"I was at Adhkuwari when the landslide hit the Yatra on Tuesday. No one stopped us, even though it was heavily raining accompanied by strong winds," Ashok, a resident of Delhi, said.

He is with a group of 80 men, women and children from Delhi who have been waiting near the railway station at Katra.

Stranded pilgrims are complaining lack of basic facilities and blaming the administration for callousness.

"If such an incident took place in Ayodhya, our Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would have ensured that not a single Yatri suffer and remains helplessly stranded like this. But here no one cares. There is no administration," a pilgrim from Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district said.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who is also the chairman of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, said that the Yatra was stopped before the cloudburst hit the track at Adhkuwari.

Lieutenant Governor Sinha expressed anguish over the death of pilgrims.

Lieutenant Governor Sinha visited the SMVD Narayana Superspeciality Hospital in Katra, where he met injured devotees. He inquired about their health condition and assured them of the best medical care.

Heavy rain hit the Jammu region on Monday and Tuesday. Jammu recorded the highest ever 380 mm of rainfall within 24 hours.

This led to massive flooding in the Tawi and Chenab rivers and also scores of rivulets, causing damage to roads, several bridges and public property. A large number of villages, neighbourhoods in Jammu city were also hit by the floods.

Questions were raised about why the Vaishno Devi Yatra was not suspended when there was a warning about heavy rain.

This is the second time in the last two weeks that a Yatra was hit by a cloudburst and landslides in Jammu and Kashmir. Over 100 pilgrims were killed, and several are still missing after a cloudburst hit the Machail Yatra in Kishtwar district on August 14.

Before the Kishtwar tragedy, there was a weather warning of rain and possible cloudburst and flash floods. Yet the Yatra was not stopped.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who visited multiple flood-hit places in Jammu on Wednesday, asked why the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage was not suspended when there was a forecast of heavy rain two days before the incident.

"When we knew about the weather, should we not have taken certain steps to save those precious lives. A weather warning had come a few days ago. Why were pilgrims still on the track? Why were they not stopped and shifted to safer locations? We need to talk about it later," Mr Abdullah said.

The government had closed all the schools in the Jammu region after a forecast of heavy rain since Monday. But Vaishno Devi Yatra continued despite the Trikuta hills witnessing several landslide incidents in the last two months.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration said a special train for stranded people is being arranged today. The train is scheduled between Jammu and Delhi at 2 pm today.