Reasi (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 28 (ANI): The Katra Hotel Association in Jammu and Kashmir has announced that they will provide free accommodation to pilgrims and needy people who are stranded following a devastating landslide on the route of the Vaishno Devi Yatra.
Speaking to ANI, Rakesh Wazir, President of the Katra Hotel Association, stated that the association has decided to provide free accommodation to all needy people for 2-4 days or until they need it.
He said, “The Hotel Association has decided that all the needy people will be given free accommodation for 2-4 days, till they want. Whoever is stuck here, we will provide them free accommodation. If they go to a hotel and it is full, they just need to call us at our control room, and we will allocate them a hotel so that no one is left without having darshan. The need at this time is that we stand with them in this hour of grief and support, and we are with them…”
Following the suspension of the Vaishno Devi Yatra, several devotees were stranded in the region, with some waiting at hotels in Katra for the yatra to resume.
Devotees present in the area said they had been asked to wait until the path is cleared of debris. A red alert was issued following the landslide incident, and rescue and clearance operations are currently underway.
Speaking to ANI, a devotee, Raja Kumar, said that the yatra will resume once the debris is cleared; however, he also expressed scepticism.
“The yatra has been stopped for now. We are staying at a hotel for two days. Now we will return only after visiting the Vaishno Devi Temple from here… There is a red alert on the hill, and an accident has also taken place there. The yatra will resume once the debris is cleared. No one knows when the yatra will commence,” he said.
Another devotee, Sanjeev Kumar, said, “It is currently closed. An alert has also been issued regarding this… We will return only after getting the darshan of Vaishno Mata… The government and administration are currently clearing the area…”
Meanwhile, the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board has taken the responsibility of repatriating the bodies of the landslide victims to their native places.
A devastating landslide occurred near the Vaishno Devi temple in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district, claiming more than 30 lives and injuring 20 others. The disaster struck on Tuesday afternoon, around 3 pm, when heavy rains triggered a massive landslide near the Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Adhkuwari, about halfway along the 12-kilometre trek from Katra to the shrine.
Heavy rainfall in Jammu and Kashmir has caused severe flooding, particularly in the Jammu region, due to the overflow of the Tawi River. The floodwaters have damaged several houses and shops in the area.
A portion of the road along the fourth Tawi bridge has been washed away in the floods following incessant heavy rainfall.
According to the IMD, there will be “a significant reduction in rainfall activity likely over Jammu and Kashmir from today,” however, isolated heavy rainfall spells are likely to continue over Northwest India during the next 6-7 days.
Earlier on Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha chaired a high-level meeting to review the rescue and relief operations and preparedness of the Union Territory following the landslide that occurred near the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Katra, as well as the flash flood situation in several districts.
The Lieutenant Governor directed officials to take every possible measure to ensure that people staying in low-lying flood-affected areas are safely evacuated.
He asked the officials to ensure the maintenance of all essential services, such as power, healthcare, clean drinking water, rations, and teleconnectivity. He stated that the essential services disrupted in flood-affected areas must be restored as a priority, and the natural disaster-hit regions should have an adequate stock of essential supplies and medicines. (ANI)
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