Srinagar: At least 34 people have been confirmed dead and more than 200 are missing after a sudden cloudburst triggered flash floods in Chashoti, a village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.
The disaster struck at 11:30 a.m. local time, washing away a community kitchen and a security post along a busy Hindu pilgrimage route.
The incident comes just over a week after a similar flood and mudslide engulfed an entire village in Uttarakhand, highlighting the vulnerability of Himalayan regions to extreme weather during the monsoon season.
My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the cloudburst and flooding in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir. The situation is being monitored closely. Rescue and relief operations are underway. Every possible assistance will be provided to those in need.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 14, 2025
According to local officials, a large group of pilgrims had gathered for lunch at the community kitchen, a key stopover for devotees trekking to the high-altitude Machail Mata shrine, when the torrent hit. “A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch, and they were washed away,” one official said.
The Machail Yatra trail leads to a Himalayan temple honouring the goddess Durga, with Chashoti serving as the last motorable point before the steep trek begins.
Television footage showed panicked pilgrims fleeing as muddy water surged through the village. Omar Abdullah, chief minister of the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, posted on X that “the news is grim” and that confirmed updates from the affected area were arriving slowly.
Spoke with the LG and Chief Minister of J&K on the cloudburst in Kishtwar district. The local administration is conducting relief and rescue operations. NDRF teams have promptly been rushed to the site. We are closely monitoring the situation and stand firmly with the people of…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) August 14, 2025
Ramesh Kumar, divisional commissioner of Kishtwar, said that police, disaster response teams, and army personnel have been deployed, with air force units also activated for rescue operations. “Search and rescue operations are underway,” Kumar said.
The Indian Meteorological Department defines a cloudburst as an intense downpour exceeding 100mm of rain in one hour, often triggering flash floods and landslides in mountainous terrain. Such events are rare but devastating, particularly during the monsoon.
The weather office in Srinagar has forecast intense rainfall in several parts of Kashmir, including Kishtwar, warning residents to stay away from unstable structures, electric poles, and old trees due to the risk of further mudslides and flash floods.
