Kathua Cloudburst: People were sleeping... a strong current came, people ran to the roofs to save their lives, household was destroyed; there was nothing left to eat

Posted on 18th Aug 2025 by rohit kumar

The flood caused by a cloudburst in Kathua on Sunday morning destroyed everything. People were sleeping in their houses when a strong current of water entered their houses. The family members somehow saved their lives by going to the roofs. Mamta Devi, a resident of Ward-7 of the city, said that early in the morning, when she was sleeping in the house with her family, a strong current of water entered her house. By the time she could understand anything, the water had filled up to five feet. In such a situation, somehow the family members saved their lives by reaching the roof of a house built next to it, but all the household items kept in the house were destroyed. There is neither a grain of food nor clothes left in the house. Even the beds have been washed away in the water. The condition of other houses in the ward is similar. It became difficult to save the lives of the people due to the sudden flood. She said that some of the belongings of the people whose houses are two-storeyed were saved, but nothing was left of the people living in the houses built on the ground floor. Mud and devastation were visible everywhere in the ward. Along with the goods kept in the houses, even the lanes and roads have been destroyed in the flood water. The condition of the road near the Brahmin Sabha in the ward has become like a ditch. The tiles in the lanes have also been completely uprooted. Traffic has also been blocked due to the collapse of the boundary walls of the houses in the lanes. Pathankot-Jammu highway sinks, water enters the college campus Government Medical College (GMC) Kathua was also submerged due to the sudden flood last night. Apart from this, 100 meters of the Jammu-Pathankot highway adjacent to the GMC have also sunk due to the flood. At present, indicators have been installed by the Highway Authority on the sunken road so that any untoward incident can be avoided. At the same time, the GMC administration has started the work of removing the debris accumulated on the service lane. MBBS students present in the college told that the water of the sudden flood that came after the rain at night entered the college campus. They were sleeping in their rooms at night and did not know about it, but as soon as they came out of their hostel rooms in the morning, they found that the entire service lane was submerged in the debris of the flood. The army came for rescue, injured were taken to Pathankot by helicopters The Indian Army has started rescue operations to provide relief from the devastation caused by a cloudburst in Kathua. After the accident on Sunday, 150 army personnel reached the spot. Air Force helicopters were also sent to the spot. The injured were sent to Mamun Hospital in Pathankot by helicopter. Some people were picked up from the spot and taken to safe places. Army personnel evacuated many families on Sunday. People were sent to safe places. Soldiers were seen carrying children and the elderly on their hands and shoulders. Police, SDRF, and CRPF teams are also present along with the army. Jammu Samba Kathua Range DIG Shiv Kumar Sharma is camping at the accident site. An army medical team is also present at the spot. A cloudburst in two places in Kathua, seven dead
The pain of Kishtwar had not yet subsided when a cloudburst in two places in Kathua caused heavy destruction. Five members of the tribal community died in Jod of Juthana, while five are badly injured. The injured were taken to Pathankot's military hospital with the help of a chopper. At Bagda of Janglot, a mother and daughter died in a cloudburst while four others are injured. The dead include five children. Due to this, road connectivity was cut off in many areas. Rail traffic was disrupted from 4 am on Sunday to 1.30 pm. A cloudburst occurred in Jod Juthana of Kathua and Bagda village of Janglot late on Saturday night. The distance between these two areas is about 15 to 20 km. Rain suddenly intensified in the district between 3 and 4 am on Sunday. The families of the scheduled tribe in Jod area of Juthana did not even know when the cloudburst occurred, and when they got buried under the debris. As soon as the information was received, the police, NDRF, and army rushed to the spot. The injured were given first aid by the army on the spot. Five bodies were found here. Five other injured people were taken to the military hospital in Pathankot by chopper, where their treatment is going on. Meanwhile, there was devastation in the Bagda area, about ten to fifteen kilometers from Juthana Jod. Here, three houses were completely buried under the rubble after the cloudburst in the sparsely populated area. Due to floods in Janglot, it took time for the rescue to reach. NDRF reached the spot around one o'clock in the afternoon. Before this, the local people and the police conducted a campaign at their own level. Two bodies were recovered here, while a child was also rescued safely and taken to the hospital. Two people were injured in Kaniyadi after being caught in the flood.