| August turns deadliest month, natural calamities claim 150 lives in Jammu | | Cloudbursts, flash floods, and landslides wreak havoc; experts link surge in extreme weather to climate change | | Sandeep Bhat
Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 2: The just-completed August has turned out to be the deadliest month in the history of Jammu and Kashmir because nearly 150 people, including 132 pilgrims of Mata Vaishno Devi and Machail Mata, lost their lives in cloudbursts, landslides, and flash floods.
Heavy rains in August wreaked havoc in the Jammu division, causing cloudbursts, flash floods, swelling rivers, and landslides that damaged infrastructure like bridges and roads.
In the beginning of this month on August 2, a young Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS) officer, Rajinder Singh Rana, serving as Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ramnagar, and his 10-year-old son were killed when a landslide struck their SUV in the Dharmari area of Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The officer was traveling with his family to their native village in Reasi when the vehicle was crushed under massive debris. Six others, including his wife and daughter, sustained injuries.
Despite weather alerts forecasting very heavy rain with possibilities of cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides, three back-to-back rain-related incidents that so far have claimed nearly 150 lives that including 132 pilgrims, within a span of one month.
The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that the Union Territory administration, headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, suspended the annual Amarnath Yatra in view of inclement weather forecasts. The annual Amarnath Yatra, which was scheduled to culminate on August 9 on the auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan, was concluded on August 3 due to the forecast of inclement weather
Major incidents in August 2025
Three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and 15 were injured when the vehicle in which they were travelling skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in the Basantgarh area of Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district on August 7.
At least 65 devotees were killed when a devastating cloudburst, followed by a horrific flash flood, struck the ill-fated village of Chositi—the last motorable point en route to the holy Machail Mata temple in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir on August 14. 33 devotees, who have been missing till date, have been presumed dead by the authorities.
Seven persons, including five children, lost their lives due to cloudburst, landslides, and flash floods in Bhangar and Jodh Ghati villages of Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on August 17.
Thirty-four devotees lost their lives after heavy rains triggered a landslide near the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Katra on August 26. A landslide incident has occurred near Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Adhkwari on the track of the cave shrine in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Eleven persons, including seven members of an ill-fated family, were killed in cloudburst-triggered landslides in Ramban and Reasi districts of Jammu province on August 30. The tragic incidents occurred in the Mahore area of Reasi district and the Rajgarh market of Ramban district.
Wettest August since 1901 Jammu region has experienced its sixth wettest August since 1901, with the region recording 319.3 mm of rainfall against the normal of 184.9 mm, marking an excess of 73% precipitation.
More than 30 incidents of flash floods, cloudbursts, landslides, gusty winds, heavy rains and thunderstorms were recorded in the month of August, with at least 14 events leading to fatalities.
The spate of extreme weather events has raised serious concerns over disaster preparedness and the impact of changing weather patterns in the region.
Experts attribute the surge in flash floods, cloudbursts, and landslides to increasingly erratic rainfall patterns linked to climate change.
Furthermore, J&K has experienced its sixth wettest August since 1901, with the region recording 319.3 mm of rainfall against the normal of 184.9 mm, marking an excess of 73% precipitation.
The highest-ever August rainfall was recorded in 1996 at 481.3 mm, followed by 345.8 mm in 1908, 343.0 mm in 2013, 336.5 mm in 1994, and 331.0 mm in 1955.
This year, several districts in the Jammu region witnessed extreme rainfall departures. Doda topped the chart with 290% excess rainfall, receiving 488.2 mm against the normal 125.1 mm. It was followed by Udhampur (159% surplus, 897.9 mm), Ramban (133% surplus, 286.2 mm), and Samba (126% surplus, 720.5 mm).
Other major gains, according to him, were reported in Reasi (64%), Jammu (53%), Kathua (45%), Rajouri (42%), Kishtwar (21%), and Poonch (17%).
In Kashmir, rainfall patterns remained mixed. “Anantnag (35%), Pulwama (18%), Kulgam (13%), and Srinagar (15%) recorded above-normal rainfall, while other districts like Kupwara (-23%), Bandipora (-20%), Budgam (-1%), Baramulla (-2%), Ganderbal (-17%), and Shopian (-69% - data probably incorrect) experienced deficits.
Meanwhile, Ladakh recorded exceptional departures from normal. Kargil received 32.6 mm of rainfall against the normal 2 mm, a 1,530% surplus, while Leh registered 54.7 mm against the normal 5.6 mm, an 877% surplus. Overall, Ladakh UT recorded 49.5 mm of rainfall compared to the normal 4.8 mm, a massive 930% departure. |
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