Jammu, September 14:
In Chishoti village of Pader subdivision of Kishtwar district, where there used to be rain of blessings, there is now a deathly silence. There are sobs here and a fearful desolation spread far and wide. On August 14, a natural disaster had created a dance of death in a few seconds.
71 people died in one stroke and 31 went missing. Four of the missing people are from Chishoti village. Even after a month of this incident, there is no news of the missing people. Whenever their family gets a call from an unknown number, they get hopeful that maybe they will get some news.
They have been in this vortex of hope and despair for the past one month.
Machail Yatra also remained incomplete, where the number of pilgrims was supposed to be more than 3 lakh this year, the number of pilgrims has not even reached two lakh yet and the disaster has given Chishoti a never-to-be-forgotten pain.
Even now, the families of the four people whose bodies have not been recovered are hoping that someday they will get some news. But despair is taking a toll on their faith. It cannot be said where the bodies of those missing due to heavy rains and floods would have reached in a month.
Only four or five bodies were found after 10 days of search. Some bodies were either found buried under heavy debris or were pulled out from Bhotnala river.
A total of 31 people are still missing. Their families are losing hope.
