Jammu: Due to continuous heavy rains in Jammu and Kashmir, a landslide occurred on the way to the Mata Vaishno Devi temple located on Trikuta Hill on Tuesday afternoon, killing five people and injuring 14. Officials said that many people are feared to be trapped.
After the landslide, the pilgrimage to this famous temple located in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir has been suspended. According to officials, the slope of the mountain collapsed at around 3 pm and stones, boulders and rocks started falling down rapidly. Officials said that rescue operations are underway near the Indraprastha Bhojanalaya located in Adhkwari. The landslide occurred at one place about halfway along the 12 km winding route from Katra to the temple located on the hill.
There are two routes to the shrine – the Himkoti trek route was suspended since morning, but the yatra continued on the old route till 1.30 pm when authorities decided to suspend it till further orders in view of the torrential rains.
The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said in a post on X, “In an unfortunate incident of landslide at Adhkwari, 5 people lost their lives and 14 others were injured. Rescue operations are underway.”
Kiran from Mohali in Punjab was among those who got trapped in a shower of boulders, trees and rocks. Kiran has been admitted to a hospital in Katra. “I was coming down the hill after performing darshan when people started shouting. I saw boulders falling. I reached a safe place but was injured,” she said.
Another girl who escaped unhurt said, “We were a group of five people, three of whom are injured.”
Incessant rain for three days has wreaked havoc in many parts of Jammu. Earlier in the day, four people were killed in a cloudburst in Doda district.
Mobile and internet services disrupted
Moderate to heavy rains lashed many parts of Jammu and Kashmir for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, but the sudden disruption of mobile and internet services disrupted life across the region, officials said. According to telecom operators, calls failed to connect, mobile data services remained suspended and even landline and fibre networks went down, leaving consumers without signal throughout the day. “Technical teams have been rushed to locate and fix the fault,” an official said.
Telecom companies described it as a “major network problem” after cables were damaged at several places. Airtel, one of the largest service providers in the region, said the outage was caused by an “alarm at a node in Jammu”. “We are working to expedite the restoration of services,” the company said.
Problems in digital payments
But for residents, the disruption meant a day of growing frustration. Digital payments failed in shops, businesses struggled to transact online and students preparing for exams had difficulty accessing study material.
“I had to buy medicines but I couldn’t pay through UPI because the internet was down. I had to run around looking for money,” said Abdul Majeed, a local resident of Srinagar.
“I was chatting with my professor and suddenly the phone disconnected. It was very frustrating for me,” said Sana Bashir, a postgraduate student at Kashmir University.
Commuters were also unable to access ride-hailing apps and get real-time travel updates. “It was raining and I had a flight to Delhi. I couldn’t book a cab to the airport and I had no option but to use traditional methods,” said Rajiv Kumar, a Delhi resident.
Businesses dependent on internet connectivity, including courier services, have reported losses. “Every hour without internet is a loss. Payments are stuck and orders are not getting updated,” said Zahoor Ahmad, who runs a courier service in Srinagar.
Meanwhile, authorities have urged residents not to pay heed to any rumours. “This is an issue entirely with the telecom companies and is being resolved on a priority basis. Such situations sometimes arise due to the weather, there is no need to panic,” an official said.
