Kishtwar cloudburst: Hope her only strength, widow waits for news of missing son, his family

Jammu: Six days after a cloudburst ravaged a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district, rescue teams continue their desperate search for those buried under the debris.

For a widow, hope remains her only strength as she waits for any news of her only son, daughter-in-law and minor grandson who went missing in the tragedy that struck Chisoti, the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple, on August 14.

So far, 65 people have been confirmed dead and 167 rescued, while a large-scale search operation is continuing for 39 people reported missing by their families after the cloudburst.

At her modest home at Digiana on the outskirts of Jammu city, nearly 300 km from the disaster site, the elderly woman sat surrounded by her four married daughters, restlessly waiting for news about her missing family members -- son Sahil Sharma (33), his wife Lovely (32) and their 11-year-old son, Raghav.

Each passing day deepens the anxiety of the women, yet they cling on to the faint belief that a miracle might still happen.

"My mother is not in a position to speak with anyone. She has not eaten anything and is only praying for them to return safely. We are hopeful that the rescuers will find them alive," Suman, one of the daughters of the elderly woman, said.

She said her younger brother and his family had gone for the yatra and the mobile phones of both Sahil and his wife were switched off after they made the last call minutes before the incident.

"I would not have allowed him to go given the weather forecast. Why was the yatra not stopped? We lost our father a year and a half ago and we are yet to overcome that tragedy," Suman said.

She said she talked to her brother on the eve of Raksha Bandhan and informed him that she was not coming home this time in view of her mother-in-law's death. "Instead, I promised him that I would visit them on Janmashtami," she said in a chocked voice, wiping away her tears.

The officials supervising the rescue operation said the search for the missing will not be halted until the last person is accounted for. But for the waiting family, the absence of any news has become unbearable.

"For us, hope is the only strength left," Suman said.

Sahil's brother-in-law said he, along with three other relatives, visited Chisoti the next day of the cloudburst and came across another relative who confirmed that Sahil, along with his wife and son, was near the bridge when the flash floods triggered by the cloudburst struck the area.

"We came to know that many people were swept away by the flood waters. We met the officials on the ground and were assured of all possible assistance to locate our missing family members," he said.

He said whenever those engaged in the rescue operation find a new body, they share the pictures with the families of those missing for identification. "Every time I am getting a new picture (of the dead), the ground is slipping from under my feet. I am praying for their safe return," he said.