Katra (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 31 (ANI): The Shree Mata Vaishno Devi yatra stays suspended for the sixth consecutive day on Sunday after landslides triggered steady rainfall within the area.
A devastating landslide occurred close to the Vaishno Devi temple in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district, claiming greater than 30 lives and injuring 20 others. The catastrophe struck on Tuesday afternoon, round 3 pm, when heavy rains triggered a large landslide close to the Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Adhkuwari, about midway alongside the 12-kilometre trek from Katra to the shrine.
On Wednesday (August 27), the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi yatra was suspended attributable to a landslide and heavy rainfall. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has ordered the structure of a high-level three-member committee to research the causes of the landslide.
Shaleen Kabra, Additional Chief Secretary of the Department of Jal Shakti, Jammu and Kashmir, will head the committee, which incorporates the Divisional Commissioner and the Inspector General of Police, Jammu.
According to an official order, the committee additionally contains the Divisional Commissioner and the Inspector General of Police, Jammu.
The committee has been tasked with conducting an in depth investigation and submitting its report inside two weeks to LG Sinha, who can also be the chairman of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), it stated.
The order has said that the Committee shall look at intimately the causes and causes behind the incident and level out any lapses, assess responses within the type of rescue and aid measures undertaken, and counsel acceptable SOPs and measures for stopping recurrence of such incidents sooner or later, the order stated.
On Friday, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) expressed profound grief over the tragic lack of pilgrims’ lives within the pure catastrophe on August 26. It clarified the factual particulars to counter deceptive media experiences, stated an official.
In a press release issued by SMVDSB, ‘A couple of media experiences have been circulating since yesterday alleging that Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra was allowed to proceed in full disregard to climate advisories and on the expense of pilgrim security. Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) expresses deep sorrow and ache on the unlucky lack of lives of pilgrims within the pure catastrophe on twenty sixth August, and locations on file the proper factual place to dispel the impression being created by the insinuating media experiences. The Board categorically denies the allegations as false and baseless.’ (ANI)