There will be a high-level inquiry into the landslide in Vaishno Devi, 34 people died

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday (August 26) ordered a high-level inquiry into the landslide incident on Ardhkumwari, the route of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi in ​​Katra. The three-member committee will investigate the causes of the incident in detail and point out any lapses. This committee will assess the responses in the form of rescue and relief measures and suggest appropriate standard operating procedures (SOPs) and measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future.

The committee will submit its report to the Chairman of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board within two weeks. According to an order, the high-level committee will be headed by the Additional Chief Secretary of the Jal Shakti Department and its other members will include the Divisional Commissioner of Jammu and the Inspector General of Police of Jammu.

Let us tell you that after the incident, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, during his visit to Jammu, questioned the conduct of the Amarnath Shrine Board officials for allowing the Vaishno Devi Yatra despite severe weather warnings by the Meteorological Department, DMRA and SDRF. He said, “We will have to talk about this later. When we knew about the weather, shouldn’t we have taken some steps to save the lives of those people? We had received the weather warning a few days ago.” The shrine board, in its statement on the 29th, blamed the unprecedented cloudburst for the tragedy and claimed that the yatra on the new track was stopped and only the old track was allowed, which was safe. Let us tell you that 34 pilgrims were killed in the landslide caused by the cloudburst, while more than a dozen were injured.