Landslide hits Vaishno Devi track in J&K’s Reasi; 10 injured

A massive landslide struck the old track to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, leaving at least 10 persons including five pilgrims, injured, officials said.

Officials said a booking office and an overhead iron structure caved in under the weight of the landslide, triggered by heavy rains which lashed Katra town, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting the shrine atop Trikuta hills, they said.

The yatra to the shrine has been suspended till 1 pm as a precautionary measure.

The incident occurred around 8.30 am at Gulshan Ka Langar near Banganga, the starting point for the yatra where mostly pony riders gather along the old track and register before taking the pilgrims to the cave shrine, 12 km from the town.

“The landslide resulted in critical injuries to three persons and minor injuries to seven others. All the injured were rescued and taken to hospital,” officiating Chief Executive Officer of Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Sachin Kumar Vaishya told reporters.

Vaishya, who is also the district magistrate Jammu, rushed to the scene and said a full fledged rescue and debris clearance operation is underway.

The officials said a rescue operation was launched immediately by local volunteers, shrine board staff, SDRF, police and CRPF personnel.

An earth-mover was also rushed to speed up the rescue efforts, they said.

The critically injured -- Uppan (70) of Chennai, his wife K Radha (66), and Rajinder Bhalla (70) of Haryana -- were admitted in Narayan hospital, while Leela Raikwar (56) of Uttar Pradesh was undergoing treatment at community health centre Katra, the officials said.

They said Suresh kumar (66) of Maharashtra and two locals Nikhil Thakur (26) and Vicky Sharma were discharged after first aid.

“I was inside the booking office when stones started hitting the overhead iron structure and we alerted others and rushed out fearing a landslide,” Thakur told PTI over phone after receiving treatment for his foot injury at the community health centre.

He said there was a small group of devotees and pony riders at the scene in view of heavy rains.

According to the meteorological department, Katra town recorded 184.2 mm of rainfall over the past 24 hours ending 8.30 am Monday.

Another landslide had blocked the new track near Himkoti Sunday night and efforts are ongoing to restore it.