At least 30 people have been killed and many more injured after heavy rains triggered a massive landslide in Indian-administered Kashmir, officials and local media report.
Search and rescue operations were under way on Wednesday in response to the landslide, which occurred the previous afternoon near the Vaishno Devi shrine, on a popular Hindu pilgrimage route in the Katra area, police and local media said.
The landslide was the latest disaster caused by heavy monsoon rains in the Himalayan region that have left hundreds dead and missing in India and Pakistan.
Senior Superintendent of Police Paramvir Singh told the Anadolu news agency that at least 30 people had been confirmed dead in Tuesday’s landslide.
“Security forces, disaster relief teams and local volunteers have been pressed into service to clear debris and search for survivors,” he said.
The pilgrimage to the Vaishno Devi Temple has been halted in the wake of the disaster, the DPA news agency reported.
Communications ‘almost nonexistent’
Heavy rains have also caused severe damage to infrastructure in the region, sweeping away bridges and roads and flooding homes.
Heavy rains have led India to open the gates of large dams on the swollen rivers in its territory, warning Pakistan of potential downstream flooding, news agencies reported. Pakistan began evacuating tens of thousands of people on Tuesday after New Delhi alerted Islamabad about possible cross-border flooding.
Meanwhile, amid forecasts for further rainfall, Indian authorities were working to restore telecommunications services, which were “almost nonexistent” amid the deluge, said Omar Abdullah, chief minister for Indian-administered Kashmir, the Reuters news agency reported.
“The immediate priority is restoration of electricity, water supply and mobile services, for which the authorities have been working continuously overnight,” Jitendra Singh, India’s science and technology minister, said in a post on X.
Floods and landslides are a regular occurrence during the June-September monsoon season, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity.
According to officials, more than 1,200 people have been killed in monsoon-related incidents in India since June, DPA reported, while at least 800 have died in Pakistan since late June.
Earlier this month, downpours in the Himalayan region killed dozens of people and left 200 missing in Kishtwar district in Indian-administered Kashmir.
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