New Delhi: Several regions in India are experiencing disasters due to severe weather, with the death toll reaching 23 in Jammu and seven in Nagaland. These regions, prone to landslides, are grappling with severe weather fury, as RNA Media had reported earlier.
The huge death toll in Jammu is a result of continuous rains, swollen streams and massive debris, which have even hampered authorities’ efforts to carry out search and rescue operations. According to reports, more people are reported missing.
According to officials quoted in the reports, seven people were killed when a landslide hit their house in the rain-affected Poonch district of Jammu & Kashmir on Monday. This includes four women.
Poonch is the worst affected due to the weather fury in the Jammu region, with 17 casualties and several missing persons.
In the Rajouri and Poonch districts, two more bodies were recovered by authorities. Among them was Vikas Ahmed, who had gone missing after being caught in flash floods on Sunday. His body was pulled from the river at Salani in Rajouri town on Monday morning.
The Jammu & Kashmir chief minister, Omar Abdullah, has announced an ex gratia of ₹6 lakh to the families of those who lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Rajouri and Poonch.
Furthermore, in Jammu’s Doda district, three people lost their lives and several others were injured in two separate incidents that were triggered by shooting stones due to the heavy downpour.
According to local reports, as large boulders rolled down a hillock near Raggi Nallah along the Jammu-Kishtwar national highway, two people died and several were injured as a huge boulder fell on one of the buses stranded due to the road blockade. The rear of the bus came to be badly damaged. One of the deceased individuals was reportedly identified as Manish Kumar. A few other vehicles stranded in the area were also damaged.
In addition to this, a shooting stone also claimed the life of a woman, Shiv Devi, at Kashtigarh in the same district.
Nagaland landslide death toll reaches 7
Meanwhile in Nagaland’s landslide-hit Mon district, the death toll in Nagaland has risen to seven, with two more bodies having been recovered on Monday, including that of a 13-year-old boy. The chief minister, Neiphiu Rio, on Monday, visited the affected area. The rescue teams are searching for two missing persons.
The deputy commissioner of Mon, Wennyei Konyak, told reporters that one of the seven deaths was reported from Tizit sub-division, where a person drowned in floodwaters. He said that the total number of bodies retrieved stood at seven, and two people were missing in the debris and search and rescue operations are underway to look for them.
Mon district is currently cut off from all sides due to landslides and floods. The authorities are working to clear the main roads for access. Around 800 houses have been damaged by landslides and floods in the district, which have affected nearly 4,500 people, according to the official.
The Nagaland chief minister has handed over ₹10 lakh to civil society groups led by the Konyak Union for immediate relief. He also assured them that the state government would take all necessary measures to address the crisis.
He has also announced an ex gratia of ₹4 lakh to the families of the deceased and ₹74,000 for all those injured.
The Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) has placed all District Disaster Management Authorities on high alert and activated emergency operations centres after heavy rains triggered landslides, flash floods and waterlogging across the state.
Besides Mon, Mokokchung, Shamator and Wokha districts have also been affected.
The state has currently prioritized resident safety and is said to be carrying out evacuation of people from waterlogged, low-lying and landslide-prone areas, including unstable embankments and riverbanks.