The untoward Cloudburst That Shattered Lives of Under-resourced People of Jammu & Kashmir
When the country was imbibing in the cool shift into fall in late August in 2025, the mesmerizing valleys of Jammu and Kashmir were left marooned in devastation, leaving the residents lingering in emotions that left them forlorn. A series of severe cloudbursts and landslides struck. In the Kishtwar district, a massive cloudburst hit Chositi village along the Machail Mata Yatra pilgrimage route on August 14, resulting in flash floods that killed at least 68 people, injured over 300, and left many missing. Just days later, in the Kathua district, another cloudburst in Jodh Ghati village triggered flash floods and landslides during the night, claiming at least seven lives and causing widespread damage to roads, homes, and public infrastructure. Jammu and Kashmir was yet to come to terms with the plummet and the devastation that when another wreckage unfolded: the Warwan Valley of Kishtwar district was hit by twin cloudbursts on August 26, 2025, creating extensive destruction, damaging 190 structures, including around 50 houses that were completely destroyed, and significantly damaging dozens more. The untoward twin cloudburst claimed 29 animals and approximately 600 kanals of agricultural and horticultural land, devastating local livelihood. The devastation submerged the lands, marred the crops, washed away the bridge, and left families to take shelter under tarpaulin, which also betrayed them.
The Hardship that Occured:
The situation was convoluted, but Miles2Smile traveled from Delhi to the devastated valleys of Jammu and Kashmir, crossing perilous paths and broken bridges, staying 20 days in two trips, and dwindling the anguish of the people. The usual vistas of the valley of Jammu and Kashmir were blanketed with the cries and weeping of people. Stories that speak of pain and anguish touched our hearts, moved our minds, and shifted our lives. The valley groaned beneath a sorrow too immense to measure, its people stranded in a storm of need with no hand to hold.
The Relief that Followed:
Food had become a memory, medicine seemed far-fetched, and torn skies begged for tarpaulin that was too fragile. Miles2Smile travelled through every hidden bend and broken path, moving gently through the shattered heart of the valley, listening to grief carved into every face, witnessing loss lingering in every corner. Amidst ruin and debris, we offered whatever help our hands could carry, whatever comfort our hearts could give. The below-given report aims to chronicle our Jammu and Kashmir relief and rehabilitation.
Medical Camp
Jamslan
Miles2Smile set up its first medical camp in Jamslan More than 200 villagers came forward, sick children, injured men, exhausted mothers, each carrying pain that had gone untreated for days. We treated, we dressed wounds, we distributed ration kits, blankets, kitchen utensils, and buckets. Most importantly, we listened. A few days later,we set up another medical camp in the same area. 45 children stood in line for medical attention, their books were still wet, their slippers muddy, but their smiles were bright. We treated them, listened to them, and reminded them that even in a disaster, they were not forgotten. The camp transformed into rays of hope, where healing began with the laughter of children.
Mohor Bagga
After a while, our journey took us deeper into despair, to Mohor Bagga. If Jamslan had broken our hearts, Mohor Bagga crushed them. The flash floods and landslides had shown no mercy here. Twenty-five homes were not just damaged, they were erased, leaving behind families sitting on the very ground that had betrayed them. The silence was deafening. Mothers sat with their children under the open sky, their faces streaked with mud and grief, their belongings reduced to damp bundles beside them. Right there, amidst the rubble and broken trees, we set up our third medical camp. More than 250 people came, some limping, some carrying infants, others still in shock. We treated fevers, wounds, infections, and exhaustion, but we knew medical care alone could not mend what had been lost.
Margi, Warwan Valley
Despite roads blocked by landslides and treacherous terrain, navigating rough, landslide-hit roads, the Miles2Smile team reached Govt. Primary School Lonepura, Margi. And without wasting any time, we set up the first emergency medical camp there. Working under dim light with only flashlights and limited resources, the team treated an astonishing 150 patients on the very first day, children, adults, and the elderly alike. Meanwhile, another team moved through the village, collecting critical data and speaking with locals to identify the most urgent needs, ensuring that every intervention was targeted, timely, and impactful.
Insan, Warwan Valley
The following day, our team made its way deeper into Insani village, where we set up a medical and relief camp at the home of Imtiaz, a kind local who, despite the lower floor of his house being completely buried under flood-borne mud, opened his doors and his heart to us.Irrespective of the challenging conditions, the team managed to treat nearly 300 patients across all ages, addressing urgent medical needs that had gone unattended for weeks.
Blanket and Winter Supplies Distribution
Miles2Smile reached Jammu and Kashmir at a time when the land itself felt bruised. Landslides had torn through hillsides, cloudbursts had drowned entire nights, and winter arrived early, settling over everything like an unwelcome guest. In those cold, interrupted days, the team waded through the valleys with blankets and winter supplies pressed to their chests, carrying pieces of warmth the mountains had forgotten to keep. We provided blankets to 57 families in Warwan, Miles2Smile extended special relief to 13 widowed women and their families there. Each family was provided with blankets, bedding, utensils, and clothes for both adults and children, based on the specific contents of the relief bags allocated to them.
Ration Distribution
Miles2Smile reached the Jammu and Kashmiri hills with ration kits resting in the backs of the trucks, the kind of essentials that look ordinary until you place them in the hands of someone who hasn’t cooked a full meal in days. The villages still smelled faintly of wet soil and anguish. Kitchens had fallen silent, stoves had grown cold. The team waded family to family , carrying bags filled with rice, dal, oil, and spices. Women received the kits with the instinctive grace of people who have spent a lifetime stretching small things into enough. Men lifted the bags with a kind of relief that they didn’t speak aloud. Children hovered nearby, already imagining warm food rising again from their kitchens, chasing away the dampness that had settled into their days. Ration was distributed to Jamsalan, Margi, and other hungry areas. 57 families.
Tarpulin Sheet Assistance
When the landslides swept through Jammu and Kashmir, they did more than dismantle homes, they unsettled the very foundation of certainty. We provided the people of Margi with 300 Tarpaulin sheets. Entire families found themselves standing amid splintered beams and scattered memories, with only the open sky above them and the raw ache of displacement beneath their feet. Into this landscape of ruin, Miles2Smile arrived carrying tarpaulin. People secured them to broken frames, to lone surviving trees, to hastily erected wooden poles.
Menstrual Kits Assistance
In the aftermath of the landslides and cloudbursts, when the villages Margi were still reeling from shock, one need remained almost entirely ignored. The struggle of women who had lost not just their homes, but their ability to manage their own dignity in the chaos. Toilets had collapsed, cupboards were buried under debris, and access to basic menstrual care had vanished overnight.Miles2Smile arrived Hygiene-Kits were distributed to 120 women to ensure they get immediate relief and long term support to reclaim their well being and strength. Each Kit contained iron tablets, iron syrup, sanitary napkins and intimate wash. These essentials were carefully chosen by a medical professional of our team and Director of health-care, Mr Mohammad Danish to make sure the bridge between physical health and mental well being is built. Miles2Smile began its Women’s Relief Drive in Warwan Valley.
Stationery Kits Assistance
Nestled deep within the mountains of Warwan Valley, where winter isolation often cuts life off from the rest of the world, Miles2Smile Foundation brought a day of warmth and creativity to the children of Margi village. As part of its ongoing relief and rehabilitation work, the foundation organized a drawing competition and stationery distribution drive for 40 children, transforming an ordinary day into one of colour, laughter, and inspiration. Armed with fresh stationery and guided by imagination, the children of Warwan poured their dreams onto paper painting stories of mountains, rivers, and hope. Their art reflected a spirit untouched by circumstance: innocent yet intelligent, curious yet grounded, reminding the team that education and creativity bloom even in the remotest corners.
The table shows our relief work in numbers in Jammu & Kashmir forUnder-resourced families.
Smile Hours | Miles Covered | Smiles Restored |
5016 | 2669.94 | 1308 Individuals, 300 Families |