Death Toll Mounts To 36 After Record Rains In Jammu; Jhelum Breaches Flood Alert Mark In Srinagar, Anantnag

Aug 27, 2025Aug 27, 2025 JKUpdates

After record rains wreaked havoc in Jammu and Kashmir over the past two days, the death toll in related incidents rose to 36, most of them victims of the landslide on a Vaishno Devi pilgrimage route, while there was some let-up in the showers on Wednesday, allowing relief efforts to pick up pace.

The water level in the swollen rivers across Jammu showed signs of receding from 11 AM, but the flood alert mark was breached by the Jhelum in Anantnag and Srinagar and water entered several residential areas, prompting authorities to assure residents that they are monitoring the situation and people should not panic.

Massive damage has been reported to public infrastructure, including several key bridges, private houses and commercial establishments, due to overflowing of water bodies and flash floods across the Union Territory, officials said, adding more than 10,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying flooded areas.

As torrential rains disrupted normal life, Education Minister Sakina Itoo announced that all educational institutes will remain closed across Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday in view of the inclement weather.

The Northern Railways ordered the cancellation of 58 trains to and from Jammu and Katra stations, while 64 trains were short-terminated or short-originated at various stations in the division.
Rail traffic, which was briefly restored on Wednesday morning with six trains departing from Jammu after a day-long suspension, has again been halted due to flash floods and heavy soil erosion in the Chakki river area, the officials said.

With the rain stopping in some areas, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah rushed to Jammu from Srinagar to personally review the situation in the region.

Officials said that the phone and network services were restored across all networks on Wednesday, 24 hours after the damage to optical fibres caused outages in the Union territory

The death toll in the Vaishno Devi landslide has gone up to 32 with rescuers pulling out more bodies from under the debris, the officials said, a day after the disaster struck the route to the hilltop shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.

At least 20 people were injured in the landslide triggered by incessant heavy rain and are undergoing treatment in different hospitals, the officials said, adding the landslide struck near the Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Ardhkuwari, about halfway along the winding 12-km trek from Katra to the shrine, at around 3 PM on Tuesday.

With more people feared trapped, rescue teams are continuing to dig through the mounds of rubble to look for survivors. While 30 bodies were recovered from the debris, two of those injured died in hospital.

The pilgrimage to the shrine remained suspended for the second day. While the yatra had been stopped on the Himkoti trek route since morning on Tuesday, it was going on on the old route till afternoon when authorities decided to suspend it as a precautionary measure.

Jammu has recorded 380 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours ending at 8.30 AM on Wednesday, which is the highest for a 24-hour period since 1910 when the observatory was set up in the winter capital.

Landslide Near Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine; Death Toll Reaches 30

Thirty people have lost their lives after heavy rains triggered a landslide near the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Katra, said Paramvir Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Reasi.
The landslide occurred near Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Adhkwari cave temple, located on the route to the Vaishno Devi shrine.

“A landslide incident has occurred near Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Adhkwari, some injuries are feared. Rescue operations are underway along with required manpower and machinery. Jai Mata Di,” the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) had said in a post on X.

The landslide and continuous rains also hit railway services in the region.

Eighteen trains were cancelled due to the suspension of traffic on the down line between Pathankot Cantt and Kandrori following soil erosion and flash floods in the Chakki river, officials said.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday termed the landslide “extremely tragic”.
In a post on X, Shah stated that National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams had already been rushed to the scene soon after the incident.

“The landslide incident caused by heavy rains on the Vaishno Devi Yatra route in Jammu and Kashmir is extremely tragic. In this regard, I have spoken with the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Shri Omar Abdullah ji, and the Lieutenant Governor, Shri Manoj Sinha ji. The local administration is engaged in relief and rescue operations to assist the injured, and the NDRF team is also reaching there,” he wrote.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha expressed condolences to the families and directed officials to provide immediate assistance to those injured in the accident.

“Deeply distressed to know that an unfortunate landslide triggered by incessant rain claimed the lives of devotees at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine. My condolences to the bereaved families & I pray that the injured recover quickly. Directed officials to provide immediate assistance,” the LG Office posted on X.

Sinha added that the officials were monitoring the situation across the Jammu division amid heavy rainfall and urged people to follow advisories.

After speaking to Amit Shah, CM Omar Abdullah also posted on X, “Just spoke to the Union Home Minister@AmitShahji on the phone to brief him about the situation in J&K, especially Jammu province, where heavy & continuous rains have caused a lot of damage and disruption to normal life. Efforts are being made to restore phone/data connectivity as soon as possible.” (Agencies)