Fatal Cloudburst Devastates Kathua Village In Jammu & Kashmir, Claims Four Lives

A devastating cloudburst has claimed four lives and left six others injured in a remote village within Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district. The tragedy occurred during the overnight hours between Saturday and Sunday, marking another catastrophic weather event in the region following the recent Kishtwar disaster that resulted in over 60 fatalities.

The natural calamity struck the Ghati area with tremendous force, burying multiple residential structures beneath a mixture of debris and flood waters. The destructive impact extended to critical infrastructure, with significant damage reported along the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway. Emergency response teams have been deployed to the affected location to conduct rescue and relief operations.

Visual evidence obtained by India Today TV reveals the severity of the situation, showing a local police station in Kathua completely inundated by flood waters. Railway infrastructure has also sustained damage, further complicating transportation and access to the affected areas.

The cloudburst effectively cut off access routes to the village while causing substantial damage to both residential and agricultural property. A combined force of police personnel and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) members has been rapidly mobilized to reach the affected village, with additional details expected as the situation develops.

Neighboring areas have not been spared from the weather-related destruction. Landslides have impacted the villages of Bagard and Changda, which fall under Kathua police station's jurisdiction, as well as Dilwan-Hutli in the Lakhanpur police station area. Fortunately, these locations have not reported significant damage compared to the primary affected zone.

The intense rainfall has caused water levels to rise dramatically across numerous water bodies in the region. The Ujh river is currently flowing dangerously close to its warning threshold, prompting authorities to issue safety advisories. District administration officials are maintaining constant vigilance over the evolving situation and have urged residents to maintain safe distances from all water bodies as a precautionary measure.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has responded swiftly to the crisis, expressing profound sorrow over the loss of life and property damage caused by landslides across multiple areas of Kathua district, including Jodh Khad and Juthana. In an official statement, the Chief Minister's Office conveyed his heartfelt sympathies to the families who have lost loved ones and offered prayers for the swift recovery of those injured. He has guaranteed that all necessary support and assistance will be provided to those affected by this natural disaster.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has also expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and confirmed his ongoing communication with Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the rescue and relief operations currently underway in the affected regions. Through his social media platform X, he described feeling deeply distressed by the loss of life resulting from the rain-induced landslides across various areas of Kathua, calling the tragedy "mind-numbing."

The Lieutenant Governor has provided detailed briefings to Union Home Minister Amit Shah concerning the coordinated rescue and relief efforts being conducted by multiple agencies including the army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), SDRF, police, and local administration. He has issued direct instructions to senior civil and police officials to coordinate and execute comprehensive rescue operations and aid distribution in the affected areas while ensuring immediate medical assistance is available on-site.

This latest disaster comes as the region continues to grapple with the aftermath of the Kishtwar incident, where hundreds of people remain missing following flash floods that swept through the area along the Machail Mata Yatra pilgrimage route to the Himalayan shrine of Mata Chandi. The Kishtwar floods have resulted in the rescue of 167 injured individuals, with 38 of them reported to be in serious condition. Many more pilgrims and locals are believed to remain trapped beneath the debris left by the devastating floods, which completely destroyed a temporary marketplace, a langar (community kitchen) facility serving the pilgrimage, and a security checkpoint.