Jammu/Katra, Aug 26: Relentless heavy rain led to a landslide on the route to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop the Trikuta hill on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least five people and injuring 14, officials said.
The pilgrimage to the famed shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district was suspended when the landslide happened, officials said.
Rescue operations are underway near the Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Adhkwari where the landslide hit around 3 pm, they said. The disaster struck at a point about halfway along the winding 12-km trek to the hilltop shrine.
The yatra had been suspended on the Himkoti trek route since morning but had been going on on the old route till 1.30 pm when authorities decided to suspend it till further orders in view of the torrential rain.
Three days of continuous rain has wreaked havoc across many parts of Jammu.
Meanwhile, The Northern Railway has cancelled 18 trains to and from Katra, Udhampur and Jammu railway stations on Tuesday as relentless heavy rain wreaked havoc in the Jammu region, officials said.
The Jammu region has been experiencing its heaviest rainfall in decades since Monday night, which damaged bridges, disrupted road connectivity and inundated large tracts of land, forcing people to shift to safer areas.
The traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar and Kishtwar-Doda national highways was suspended, while dozens of hilly roads were blocked or damaged by landslides or flash floods, the officials said, adding the pilgrimage to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine was also suspended as a precautionary measure.
A railway official said, “Eighteen trains have been cancelled. Four trains have been subjected to short terminations. This has been done in view of the weather conditions prevailing in the region.”
Of the trains cancelled, seven are from Katra, the base camp of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, two from Udhampur and one from Jammu, the officials said, adding that trains to Katra and Udhampur have also been cancelled.
Train services from Pathankot to Kandrori in Himachal Pradesh have also been suspended due to heavy soil erosion and flash floods on the Chakki river, according to railway officials.
Four trains were short-terminated at Firozpur, Manda and Chak Rakhwalan, they said, adding that movement of trains on the Katra-Srinagar stretch was continuing.
