Srinagar, Aug 29: The Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor’s administration on Friday constituted a three-member committee to investigate the landslide that struck the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage route near Adhkuwari in Reasi district on August 26, killing more than 30 pilgrims and injuring many others.
As per the order, the panel will be headed by the Additional Chief Secretary of the Department of Jal Shakti. The Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, and the Inspector General of Police, Jammu, will serve as its members.
The committee has been tasked with examining the causes of the landslide, identifying lapses if any, and reviewing the adequacy of the rescue and relief response carried out on the day of the tragedy.
It has also been directed to recommend standard operating procedures and preventive measures to avert such incidents in future. The report is to be submitted within two weeks to the Chairman of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, who is also the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
The landslide occurred amid heavy monsoon rains along the 12-kilometre trek from Katra to the shrine, when large boulders and debris rolled down onto a group of pilgrims near a makeshift shelter at Adhkuwari. Initial reports confirmed five deaths and more than a dozen injuries, but rescue operations later recovered additional bodies, bringing the toll to over 30.
The Vaishno Devi disaster comes less than two weeks after a cloudburst and flash floods in Kishtwar district left more than 60 people dead. Heavy monsoon rains have battered large parts of Jammu and Kashmir this month, disrupting communication networks, damaging infrastructure.
Officials said the high-level inquiry is expected to look not only at the geological and weather-related causes of the landslide but also at whether administrative oversight or lapses in monitoring contributed to the scale of the tragedy.
