Cloudbursts kill 28, bury families in Kashmir’s remote villages

A series of cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides have killed at least 28 people in Jammu and Kashmir this month, with remote mountain communities in the Pir Panjal range among the worst hit. In Murrah village, Poonch district, a cloudburst on 19 July sent mud, boulders and water crashing down, swallowing the house of Haji Mohammad Latief and trapping eight family members. Latief survived only because he had stepped outside to park his car. Four days later, roads, electricity and mobile networks remained cut off, and rescuers were searching the debris and the Suran River by hand for the missing.

Scientists say rising temperatures are increasing the likelihood of short, intense rainfall across the western Himalayas, which in steep terrain can trigger rapid flooding and landslides. The destruction extended to Rajouri, where the Manawar Tawi River washed away roads, vehicles and the main bus station, and to Gurez Valley near the line of control, where a cloudburst damaged crops and blocked the valley's only road. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said the western Himalayas are experiencing frequent bursts of intense rainfall capable of triggering floods and landslides.

Residents say increasingly erratic rainfall is disrupting farming and making traditional livelihoods more precarious. 'Nothing seems predictable any more,' said Aamir Asghar Khan, a resident of Achoora village in Gurez. 'The rain is getting more intense every year, and the frequent cloudbursts are threatening our livelihoods.'