Overview

• Officials updated the death toll to at least 33 on the Ardhkuwari stretch of the Vaishno Devi track, with searches for missing devotees and treatment for the injured ongoing.
• The yatra is suspended and many pilgrims are stranded, as Shrine Board staff, NDRF units and the army carry out evacuations, including via the Tarakote route.
• The Jammu–Srinagar national highway (NH-44), the Valley’s main all-weather link, remains closed after rockfalls and slides in the Ramban sector, with traffic held at Udhampur and Qazigund.
• The meteorological office issued red alerts through 27 August; authorities closed schools, postponed board exams and some recruitment, and issued flood warnings across Jammu division.
• A cloudburst in Doda caused severe damage to homes with reports of fatalities, and heavy rains have also triggered landslides and closures in Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.