Jammu, Aug 2: 14 families in two villages of Padder in Kishtwar district did not believe that they survived the devastating cloudburst which left them homeless.
Their houses developed cracks following soil erosion during the intervening night of July 27 and July 28, 2021.
While the rescue operation in Honzar village was still continuing to trace 19 missing people following the cloud burst, victims of the same tragedy, which struck other villages in Kishtwar also, were narrating their horrific accounts.
Amar Singh, Sarpanch Panchayat Gulab Garh was one of the victims, whose house was damaged due to the landslides following the cloud burst that triggered flash flood
and soil erosion making their village unsafe to live in.
Living there with his family for centuries, Singh had been leading a happy life in Gulab Garh till the cloudburst ravaged it and all the villagers ran for their lives.
“We abandoned our homes that night and took refuge in the mountains fearing that it was our last day and we all were going to die,” recalled Amar Singh, while speaking over the phone from Padder.
He said, “We were confident that we would not be able to see each other the next morning. Hundreds of villagers from Machail to Gulab Garh left without taking meals or locking their homes when the cloudburst struck the mountains of Palali-Garh.”
For over two hours, he said, “That night the inhabitants of Gulab Garh and its surrounding villages were terrified. And suddenly, the flood washed away everything that came its way.”
“The village witnessed huge damage with soil erosion and our houses developed cracks. They have become unsafe to live in. Therefore, the administration has shifted us to the Sarai and other safer places,” claimed the Sarpanch who too lost his house.
He said that they were demanding the construction of a protection concrete wall around Gulab Garh and rehabilitation of the displaced families.
He said that the families of Yograj son of Lal Chand, Amar Nath son of Mangal San, Krishan Lal son of Nath Ram, Hans Raj son of Ravail Singh, Prem Singh son of Nath Ram, Amar Singh, son of Nath Ram, Bhim Singh son of Lasa Ram, Bansi Lal son of Amar Chand, Vinod Kumar son of Nath Ram, Bharat Singh son of Nand Lal, Pahawal Singh Son of Nath Ram, Radha Krishan son of Lal Chand were among displaced families of Gulab Garh.
Prem Lal, Hari Saran, Tara Mani, Bansi Lal and Ram Singh, all residents of Kundali of Palali Panchayat, too lost their houses after they developed cracks.