Kishtwar cloudburst: J-K Cong defers party events for 1 week as mark of respect to victims

Jammu, Aug 16 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress on Saturday said that all its scheduled programmes, including the ongoing chain hunger strike in support of statehood restoration, have been deferred for the next one week as a mark of respect to the Kishtwar cloudburst victims.

The announcement was made by J-K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra, who, along with JKPCC working president Raman Bhalla and a team of senior leaders, will visit the disaster-hit Chisoti village on Sunday.

At least 60 people, mostly pilgrims visiting the Machail Mata shrine near Chisoti, were killed, while 82 others went missing in the flash floods triggered by a heavy cloudburst on Thursday afternoon.

More than 100 people were rescued in an injured condition.

“Keeping in view the magnitude of the tragedy involving pilgrims and others from different parts of Jammu region, we have decided to defer all scheduled programmes, including the ongoing campaign under the banner 'Hamari Riyasat Hamara Haq', for the next one week," Karra said.

The Congress leader said the birth anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on August 20 shall also be commemorated in a simple manner.

A Congress delegation led by former ministers Choudhary Lal Singh and G M Saroori visited Chisoti on Saturday and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.

They also urged the Central government to provide Rs 10 lakh ex gratia and a government job to the next of kin of each deceased, reconstruct the damaged houses, and declare the Kishtwar-Machail road a national highway, a party spokesman said. PTI TAS ARI