Floods wreak havoc in Jammu, Rajasthan; landslide toll hits 35

Thirty-five bodies have been recovered so far in the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine route landslide tragedy as floods wreaked havoc in the Jammu division of J&K.

- JAMMU/JAIPUR

The Trikuta Hills landslide occurred on Tuesday, and the officials of the Katra Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said that 35 bodies have been recovered so far from the debris near Ardhkuwari.

So far, 22 of these bodies have been identified. Most of them hailed from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The families of many of them have reached Katra, and the bodies after completion of the legal formalities, are being handed over to their relatives, officials said.

Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra was suspended after the tragedy, but was restored through the old route on Wednesday evening.

All major highways and roads, including the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, Batote-Doda-Kishtwar-Paddar, Katra-Reasi-Mahore-Gool, Kathua-Basohli-Bani, Udhampur-Ramnagar-Basantgarh and many other inter-district and link roads, remained blocked by landslides.

Even the traffic on the Jammu-Pathankote National Highway remained suspended for several hours due to flooding in the Lakhanpur Toll Plaza area and on the highway near the damaged bridge.

Over 7,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying flooded areas.