On August 14 morning, Machail yatra pilgrims had assembled as usual in the verdant green meadows of Chishoti village amidst the remote hills of Kishtwar district. The area, some 80 kilometers from the district headquarters in Jammu and Kashmir's Padder sub-division, buzzed with the familiar rhythm of activity –vehicles arriving with faithful devotees, vendors arranging their stalls and serving endless stream of pilgrims, people eating their meals at the langar before their onward journey and weary pilgrims returning after embarking a 30-kilometre trek back and forth the shrine for a short rest.
The village occupies a crucial position along the pilgrimage route to the revered Shri Machail Mata shrine, serving as the final point where vehicles can reach before devotees continue their journey on foot. The Machail Mata Yatra, a pilgrimage to the shrine of Goddess Durga in Machail village, Kishtwar began on July 25th. The 43-day pilgrimage concludes on September 5th. Pilgrims trek a 30 km route to the shrine after reaching Gulabgarh, the base camp.
Destruction & Devastation
But as the sun reached its zenith that August morning, at approximately 12 noon, without warning, the skies above Chishoti village erupted in a catastrophic cloudburst, triggering flash floods that unleashed torrents of water with terrifying intensity.
Within minutes, the peaceful mountain streams that gently wind their way through the valley transformed into raging torrents, carrying massive boulders, uprooted trees, and debris as flash floods swept through the very heart of where the pilgrims had gathered.
The sudden deluge gave no time for escape. It devoured everything – tents, vehicles and people. Reports indicate 60 people had died and 200 were injured in the disaster. However, casualty figures remained uncertain as local officials warned the death toll would likely rise, given the large number of pilgrims and residents present at the time of the cloudburst.
According to data from the Red Cross Kishtwar, the confirmed death toll stood at 45, with 111 people injured. Eyewitnesses and survivors reported that over 400 pilgrims were eating at the community kitchens when the flash floods struck. The Red Cross also documented 69 people as missing, with their families contacting local authorities to help locate relatives who had disappeared during their pilgrimage journey to the shrine.
Both officials and locals fear that the death toll may rise as many people still remain missing. Besides, over 100 injured victims, some with serious injuries, are under treatment at Sub-divisional Hospital of Padder, Kishtwar District hospital and few were referred to the Government medical college (GMC) Jammu and Doda.
The victims are mostly pilgrims and residents of different parts of Jammu province, many locals were swept away and are among the dead, injured and missing. According to data collated from the medical authorities, many victims include children and people up to the age of 40. Several jawans of the Central industrial Security force (CISF) deployed to ensure the law and order and security of the pilgrims are also reported missing.
Following the incident, rescue operation was launched by the Police, Red Cross unit of district Kishtwar, State Disaster and Response force (SDRF) and other NGOs along with local volunteers. By the late evening, the operation was joined by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to step up the rescue operations.
A local rescue volunteer was shocked to see the scale of devastation. The site that was humming with activity and lush green is now a flat, barren disc with mud, silt and boulders are remnants of the destruction, he said.
“It wasn’t just vehicles and pilgrims that were swept away in the flash floods, several residential houses were also washed away,” he told the Kashmir Times.
A Pattern of Himalayan Disasters
The Chishoti tragedy follows a quick succession of flash floods, cloudburst and other natural disasters in the Himalayan region, causing widespread destruction.
On August 5, a landslide, triggered by cloudburst and flashfloods, struck near Dharali village in Uttarakhand. The disaster killed five people and left over 50 missing. Locals claim over 100 people could be missing and buried under debris as dozens of houses, hotels, and homestays were swept away.
The Himalayan region has experienced several devastating natural disasters with significant casualties in recent years. In August 2023, floods and landslides on August 14 in the Indian Himalayan Region killed at least 72 people, particularly affecting Himachal Pradesh with over 5,000 hazard incidents recorded. In October 2023, Northern Sikkim experienced a severe Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) when the South Lhonak Lake at 17,000 feet ruptured, causing the Chungthang hydro-dam to breach and resulting in a large number of casualties. Throughout 2024, Nepal was repeatedly hit by monsoon-related disasters, with flooding and landslides in September inducing landslides that killed at least 156 people.
Research by the Centre of Disaster Management identifies the northwestern Himalayan regions—including Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh—as particularly vulnerable to extreme rainfall events like cloudbursts. The study notes that most cloudbursts typically occur at altitudes between 1,000 to 2,500 meters above sea level.
Chenab Valley’s Vulnerability
However, the flood-affected Chishoti village sits at 2,800 meters above sea level, well above the usual range. This high altitude, combined with other overlooked environmental factors, likely contributed to the severity of this natural disaster.
The Chenab Valley has also faced significant natural disasters in recent years. In April 2025, Ramban district was severely impacted by devastating flash floods and landslides that occurred from April 17-21, which proved far more deadly and destructive. At least five people died across Jammu and Kashmir in severe storms that affected the region since Thursday, April 17, 2025, with 3 people killed in Ramban specifically, including 2 children, along with 1,442 livestock deaths. The Ramban disaster caused extensive infrastructure damage, with NH-44 washed away at 5 locations and 98 vehicles and 515 structures damaged, forcing the suspension of traffic along the crucial Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
Repeated land subsidence incidents have also been reported in recent years across the Chenab Valley, underscoring the increasing frequency and intensity of weather-related disasters in the region's mountainous terrain.
Are Development Projects a Factor?
This rising pattern of such disasters raises questions about whether development projects may be contributing to these deadly natural disasters.
Kishtwar has particularly become a major power hub with multiple hydroelectric projects under construction and in operation. Local journalists and activists have repeatedly raised environmental concerns, citing instances where companies dumped construction waste into the Chenab River.
While the recent cloudburst-affected areas are distant from the under-construction projects, locals believe that all developments form a connected chain from Dul Hasti HEP to the proposed Kiru HEP. The cumulative environmental fallout of these projects may be contributing to the region's increasing frequency of natural disasters; it is widely believed.
Touseef Ahmed, a socio-environmental activist, links both the hydroelectric projects and massive road widening projects in the district to the Chisoti tragedy. He says that experts had already cautioned over the massive construction and road widening.
“There is a need to establish a proper environmental assessment committee to submit a report before starting a developmental project, whether it is road widening of roads within the mountains or hydroelectric projects, to prevent these places from the disasters, in this ecologically fragile area,” he adds.
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