'Centre not disclosing number of fatalities in Amarnath flash floods': Mehbooba Mufti

PDP president and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti lashed out at the Central government on Wednesday over the tragic flash floods at the Amarnath shrine that killed at least 16 people and left more than 30 missing.

Mufti said that despite the weather condition not allowing more than 5,000 people to undertake the Amarnath yatra, the government allowed lakhs of pilgrims to visit the holy shrine, which amplified the risk of disaster. 

"The dangerous terrain disallows the movement of more than 5,000 people, yet tens of thousands were allowed to participate in the pilgrimage. This is the reason, we still don't know the number of lives lost in the Cloudburst," she told reporters.  

The PDP leader further alleged that the government was not revealing the actual number of fatalities in the Amarnath cloudburst. "Though they claim that only 15-16 people have died, the number of bodies being recovered and the missing count proves otherwise. This was all because of the government's irresponsibility," she said.

Mufti said the yatra, which was once a symbol of our Hindu-Muslim brotherhood and provided economic aid to the laborers of Jammu and Kashmir, was being used as a political tool by the BJP government. 

"They kept promoting that 7-8 lakhs pilgrims will participate in the yatra and it will go on for 2 months. All this despite a Committee report stating that not more than 5,000 people should undertake the pilgrimage in the region due to rough weather conditions. The report also suggested that the yatra should only take place for one month," Mufti noted. 

Amarnath yatra

The annual 43-day yatra commenced from the twin base camps -- traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag and 14-km shorter Baltal in central Kashmir's Ganderbal -- on June 30. 

The yatra came to a halt on July 8 after flash floods triggered by a cloudburst and heavy rainfall near the holy cave shrine in Amarnath led to the death of at least 16 people, and over 40 people were missing. Subsequently, the Amarnath yatra was suspended from Jammu on July 10 due to adverse weather conditions and was later  resumed by authorities on July 11.

So far, over 1.13 lakh pilgrims have offered prayers at the shrine, housing the naturally formed ice-shivlingam. The yatra is scheduled to end on August 11.