GROUND ZERO REPORT: Grief unites faiths in Kishtwar's darkest hours
Chisoti (Padder), Aug 16: When flash floods swept across the narrow valley of Chisoti, destroying temples, houses, community kitchens, and leaving pilgrims dead, grief blurred the lines of faith.
Amid the wails of survivors and the silence of the missing, volunteers from different faiths reached out, shifting the wounded and ferrying them to safety, honouring the dead by placing shrouds over their bodies, serving food to strangers, and arranging blood for the injured.
In Padder’s darkest hour in years, when temples sank beneath the flash flood, humanity surfaced.
Over the past three days, as the Machail Mata Yatra site turned into a landscape of ruin, rescue and relief unfolded as a joint mission of faiths.
While Ababeel, a Muslim volunteer group from Chenab Valley, rushed ambulances, donated blood supplies, and community kitchens into the valley and pulled dozens from the debris, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Pracharaks carried the injured on their shoulders and provided food.
“We placed men in hospitals at Atholi, Kishtwar, and Doda to arrange food and blood,” said Bashir Ahmad, a volunteer who travelled 100 km from his village Daedtel, located along the Kishtwar-Sinthan Top- Kokernag road.
“Perhaps our Bhagwan showed us he can take life, but he can also save others from the mouth of death,” said Prem Lal, 70, a Pracharak from Himachal Pradesh.
However, it was the local Buddhists living in six villages around Chisoti who were among the first rescuers.
Together, they offered solace to the pilgrims and villagers left destitute.
In this shared mourning, Padder, which borders Himachal Pradesh, witnessed how tragedy can wash away walls of belief, leaving behind fragile but resilient ties of human solidarity.
“Family members, relatives, and neighbours, including women, rushed on motorcycles to save the pilgrims and locals,” said Padma Dholkar, 30, owner of Dragon Café and Restaurant in Gulabgadh, Padder.
About six Buddhist villages with a population of 2500 surround Hamori, the last motorable village on the 6-km dirt road.
The entire Buddhist population has come down to Chisoti to help with the rescue work.
Machail, where the yatra is performed, lies another 6 km ahead, and pilgrims trek the route from Hamori.
Dholkar said in Paddar, Hindus, who form the majority, live in harmony with Buddhists and Muslims, who are minorities.
The disaster hit Chisoti village as thousands of pilgrims gathered at the last motorable point on the Machail Mata Yatra, a revered Hindu pilgrimage in Padder valley.
Officials said more than 65 pilgrims including two priests, have been confirmed dead, while over 70 remain missing, believed swept into the Chenab stream.
PILGRIMAGE INTERRUPTED BY TRAGEDY
Chisoti lies beneath the sapphire-rich Himalayan ranges, 85 km from Kishtwar town, along the Bhot Nalla stream – a tributary of the Chenab River.
Nearly 2500 pilgrims had assembled there when the flash floods struck at 12:38 pm, while a total of 15,000 pilgrims had left for the pilgrimage.
“Nothing remained. Both temples and the pilgrims were swept away,” Sonu Baba, a 45-year-old priest, said. “Some were offering prayers inside, others were eating at community kitchens. Then everything was gone.”
The Machail Yatra, which is the most popular pilgrimage after the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra and Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir, is vital for locals who set up stalls selling tea, snacks, and bread made from maize, the only crop grown in the village.
Around 2 lakh pilgrims perform the yatra every year.
During the yatra, local families ferry pilgrims on motorcycles along a rugged dirt road.
A FAMILY’S LOSS
For 22-year-old Sawant Singh, the Yatra meant livelihood.
On the morning of August 14, he was ferrying devotees when his world collapsed.
“My mother, Kamlesh Devi, and sister Sangeeta Devi were selling rotis when flash floods hit the area. Both were swept away,” he said. “Our house is broken, half washed away. Only my father survived because he was out working. My nieces were saved too, as they were rehearsing for Independence Day at school.”
His uncle’s house, in the same compound, was also destroyed, but all family members survived.
Gesturing at a half-finished 100-meter bridge, Singh said, “Only three days of work were left. Had it been completed, many lives would have been saved.”
PRIESTS, CISF AMONG DEAD
Two priests – Bodh Raj of Kali Mata temple and Dena Nath of Nag Devta temple - were among those swept away. Raj remains missing. Nath’s body was recovered by the National Disaster Response Force and paramilitary CRPF personnel and cremated with full rites.
“People with moist eyes laid him to rest,” a villager said.
Even three CISF personnel deployed for the yatra were washed away.Two bodies have been recovered, while one remains missing.
CHAOS, SCREAMS, RESCUE
The flood tore through food stalls, makeshift hotels, and homes.
At least 10 houses on the stream banks were destroyed.
“The village erupted with cries and screams. Men, women, and children all came out running for safety. Some were lucky, others not so much,” said a CRPF officer on duty.
Rescue operations by the J&K Police, Army’s 17 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), CRPF, CISF, SDRF, and NDRF pulled at least 100 to safety.
But scenes of horror persisted.
“One pilgrim was rescued with only half his body intact,” said Rajesh Kumar, a worker with a road company assisting in retrieval.
“It looks like the world has ended here,” another rescuer said, pointing at bodies wrapped in blankets on cots.
According to on-duty doctors, seven bodies were recovered on August 16 and six a day earlier.
OFFICIALS ON GROUND
Senior officers of the Police, Army, and civil administration reached the site.
“Our joint teams rescued at least 100 from the stream and debris on the first day,” said a Police official.
Meanwhile, families continue to search for the missing.
“Fifty families from Jammu and one from Delhi have reported their relatives missing,” an officer of the Revenue Department said.
Sixty injured were treated at District Hospital Kishtwar, 11 at Sub District Hospital, Atholi, while several remain critical at GMC Doda and GMC Jammu.
“The dead are being sent home when identified. Others remain in mortuaries at Gulabgarh and Kishtwar,” another official said.
