Assam CM Prays for Well-being of Pilgrims in Amarnath’s Cloudburst

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday expressed grief over the tragedy that transpired close to the holy shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir following the devastating flash flood triggered by a cloudburst, where at least 15 people lost their lives. 

Taking to twitter, Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote, "Deeply pained by the tragedy near the holy shrine of Amarnath in Jammu & Kashmir." He also prayed for the well-being of the devotees who are present there while wishing "speedy recovery" for the injured people.”

Deeply pained by the tragedy near the holy shrine of Amarnath in Jammu & Kashmir.

I pray for well-being of the devotees there and wish speedy recovery of the injured persons.

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 9, 2022

Notably, as of now, 15 people have been reported to have lost their lives while around 50 have been reported injured from the incident.  

On Friday evening, the flash flood triggered by a cloudburst near the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir swept away scores of people, killing at least 15 and swamping tents and community kitchens.

At least 15,000 pilgrims have been shifted to the lower base camp, while more than 40 people are still missing. 

The Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), continued the rescue operation throughout the night as they looked for missing persons in the cloudburst-affected area at the lower Amarnath Cave site. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has sent three teams comprising about 75 rescuers. 

Every year, IMD releases a special weather advisory for Amarnath Yatra. The general, daily forecast for the district on Friday was of yellow alert (means, keep watch). Even the evening forecast, up on the Amarnath Yatra forecast website at 4.07 pm, “Partly cloudy sky with possibility of very light rain” for all along the route from both Pahalgam side and Baltal side. There was no accompanying warning.