Jammu Landslide Claims 35 Lives Amid Flooding Crisis

A major landslide struck the pilgrimage route to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district, following several days of relentless rainfall. The collapse occurred near Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Ardhkuwari, midway along the 12-kilometre trek to the shrine. Initially reported to have claimed five lives and left 14 injured, the toll has since risen to 35 as rescue teams continued clearing debris under challenging conditions.

The landslide coincided with widespread flooding across the Jammu division, where several rivers, including the Chenab and Tawi, breached their banks. Highways were blocked, bridges collapsed, and over 7,000 residents were evacuated from low-lying zones. Helicopters were deployed to airlift stranded individuals, underlining the scale of the crisis. Due to narrow pathways and unstable slopes, heavy machinery could not be deployed, and debris removal had to be carried out manually. Injured survivors were transported to hospitals across the region, while nearby structures were evacuated as a precaution.

Geotechnical Factors Behind the Collapse

Rainfall-induced landslides in Himalayan terrain are typically linked to a combination of geological, hydrological, and engineering conditions. Prolonged monsoon rainfall saturates residual soils and weathered rock, reducing shear strength and increasing pore water pressures along pre-existing joints and weak layers. The steep slopes of the Trikuta Hills amplify these effects, while concentrated surface runoff accelerates erosion and toe scouring.

Other contributing factors often include:

• Inadequate drainage: Poor surface and subsurface drainage allows water to infiltrate slope material.

• Weak lithology: Colluvium and weathered strata are more prone to failure under saturation.

• Anthropogenic loading: Road cutting and concentrated pilgrim traffic increase surcharge loads on already unstable slopes.

Such failures underscore the need for slope monitoring, early warning systems, and resilient slope-stabilization measures, particularly along high-traffic pilgrimage routes.

Check out the following video for more information on the devastating landslide.