Srinagar, Aug 16: For nearly 30 hours, a man lay trapped beneath the rubble of the langar he had run for years, serving pilgrims of Mata Machail. When rescuers finally pulled him out alive on Friday afternoon, villagers called it as nothing short of divine intervention.
Subhash Chandra, 42, from Udhampur, had been feeding hundreds of pilgrims daily at the makeshift langar when the cloudburst-triggered deluge struck on August 14. The kitchen was swept away, the pilgrims scattered, and the hillside transformed into a torrent of logs and stones. When the waters receded, there was no langar, no pilgrims, only debris.
Thirty hours later, when rescue teams of the Army, NDRF and locals cleared the ruins, they found Subhash alive, pinned beneath timber and rubble. Around him lay four bodies. “This is the first time in three days that someone has been found alive. It feels nothing short of a blessing,” an Army officer said.
For Subhash — who has devoted years trekking up each yatra season to feed devotees of Mata Machail — survival is faith made real. “Whom God saves, no one can kill,” said Sunil Sharma, Leader of Opposition and overseer of operations in the village. “He has served pilgrims selflessly for so long; Mata protected him.”
Doctors at Kishtwar district hospital said Subhash’s injuries were minor; he has since been discharged. His survival has brought a flicker of hope to families who have waited three days for news of loved ones. On Saturday, four more people were rescued alive.
But the scale of loss continues to grow. The official toll stands at 58 dead and more than 100 injured. Eighty-two remain missing, 81 pilgrims and one CISF personnel. Survivors estimate that 200–300 pilgrims were inside or around the langar when the cloudburst struck; 1,000–1,500 were in the area.
The flash floods flattened 16 houses, a security outpost, three temples, four water mills and a 30-metre bridge. More than a dozen vehicles were swept away. A bustling makeshift market is now a field of mud.
“This langar was the heart of the yatra route. To see it erased in minutes is unbearable,” said NaibTehsildarSushil Kumar.
The annual Machail Mata yatra, which began July 25 and was to run till September 5, has been suspended for the third consecutive day. Chisoti, the last motorable point en route to the 9,500-foot shrine, is now cut off by debris.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh, speaking in Jammu, also cited Subhash’s rescue: “He was part of those running the langar. He came out alive.”
For villagers, his survival is seen as divine intervention. “Years of service to pilgrims, Mata has rewarded him,” a local said.
With dozens still untraced and the sound of controlled explosions echoing through the hills as rescue teams blast boulders, families cling to whatever hope they can. “If Subhash could live 30 hours under stone, maybe others are still waiting,” said Sharma.
