Comment KOLKATA, India — Flooding caused by a cloudburst has killed at least 16 people during an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a Himalayan mountain cave in India’s Kashmir region. Officials mounted a massive rescue effort as 40 others were missing on Saturday. Cloud cover in the area of a sacred Hindu cave about 75 miles west of Srinagar the previous day halted the Amarnath pilgrimage. About 15,000 pilgrims were moved to a base camp at a lower altitude and rescuers used helicopters to move those stranded around the cave. “First it started to rain slowly, which is normal at this altitude. Then suddenly, we heard a loud bang, like an explosion,” said Manzoor Ahmad Lone, 31, a photographer who said he has been camping near the cave every year since 2012. “I feel lucky to be alive,” Lone said. Video from local media shows floodwaters gushing into the hills as loudspeakers instruct people to evacuate the area. Eyewitnesses reported seeing huge rocks the size of trucks falling from the top of the hills as torrents washed away tents and kitchens. The rescue operation was hampered by the difficulty of transporting heavy machinery to the area. Army personnel worked with hand tools to clear the debris. “We were horrified by what we saw,” an eyewitness told news agency ANI. This year, more than 300,000 pilgrims had signed up for the trek to catch a glimpse of Amarnath, a natural ice stalagmite believed to be a form of the god Shiva, at an altitude of nearly 4,000 meters above sea level. The trip to the cave can be done on foot or by pony. About 80,000 people had completed the pilgrimage this year. “We quickly ran to higher ground for safety. But not everyone was so lucky or quick. We heard people screaming for help,” said Lone, the photographer. “They were buried under piles of rock and debris.” “We have evacuated almost 100 injured people. There are people still buried here,” Lt. Gen. Amardeep Singh Aujla told reporters at the Sangam base camp. “We hope to get them out within the next 24 hours.” With rescue operations underway, the death toll is expected to rise. Clouds are not unknown in the region, but the increasing frequency of extreme weather has alarmed researchers and activists. The last major flood in the valley occurred in 2014. Rapid urbanization and erosion of natural wetlands has made the area particularly vulnerable to a changing climate. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent his condolences on Twitter and spoke to local officials about the rescue efforts. “Rescue and relief operations are underway. All possible assistance is being provided to the affected,” he said. This was the first pilgrimage in three years after an interruption due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2019, the government halted the pilgrimage midway and asked people to turn back days before revoking Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status. The pilgrimage was fraught with danger in the past as well. Until a few decades ago, it was only done in 15 days. In 1996, blizzards and blizzards killed nearly 240 pilgrims. A committee set up by the government after the tragedy had suggested limiting the number of pilgrims to 100,000 each year. Irfan reported from Srinagar.
