JAMMU, Aug. 28 -- The death toll in Vaishno Devi landslide rose to 32 on Wednesday, about halfway along the winding 12-km trek from Katra to the shrine, with rescuers scouring the debris to look for survivors, officials said. "At least 32 dead bodies have been recovered so far. Around 23 injured have been admitted to different hospitals," the officials said. Amid heavy rains a massive landslide hit a shed near Adhkuwari enroute the cave shrine on Tuesday around 3pm. While bodies of nine pilgrims were retrieved late Tuesday, 23 more were recovered on Wednesday taking the toll to 32. Reasi SSP Paramvir Singh said, "Rescue operations are on and once they are over, we would be able to give exact toll figures". Piyush Dhotra, SDM Katra, also refused to share exact figure of fatalities CEO Vaishno Devi shrine board, Sachin Kumar Vaishya said, "I am supervising rescue ops. Let them get over..we will share exact data." Despite continual weather alerts forecasting heavy to very heavy rains with possibilities of cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides, three back-to-back rain-related incidents have claimed 113 lives in the last 12 days in Kishtwar, Kathua and Reasi districts, raising serious questions over the poor preparedness by the UT administration. "When the Met department was issuing regular weather forecasts alerting the administration about heavy rains, cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides, the administration exhibited criminal neglect in not suspending Machail Mata Yatra and Vaishno Devi Yatra," said a senior police officer, who declined to be named. "If the LG's administration was prompt in suspending Amarnath Yatra in view of inclement weather forecasts, it should have also suspended the Mata Machail Yatra in Kishtwar and Vaishno Devi Yatra. The fact that it was not done shows utter insensitivity on the part of administration, including Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board," he said. At least 65 pilgrims died in Kishtwar, 32 remain missing since August 14 and nine Vaishno Devi pilgrims died on Tuesday. On August 17, at least seven people that included five minors died in a cloudburst in Kathua. A local Katra resident, Deepak Kumar, said, "We all remember how the Centre curtailed Amarnath Yatra ahead of its scheduled culmination before revocation of Article 370. We also remember how 12 Vaishno Devi pilgrims died in a stampede on January 1, 2022. But the local administration showed negligence leading to 113 people in three rain-related incidents within a span of just 12 days." Kumar attributed Tuesday's landslide near Adhkuwari to rampant cutting of trees and laying new tracks to the cave shrine. "We had never seen before such death and destruction on Trikuta Hills. The shrine board has ruined these hills just to increase the footfall of pilgrims so as to mint money," he added. On August 14, a massive cloudburst at Chishoti enroute Mata Chandi temple in Padder left a trail of death and destruction. At least 65 pilgrims died and 32 remain missing. On August 17, another cloudburst in Kathua left seven people, five of them minor children, dead. The water level in the swollen rivers across Jammu showed signs of receding from 11 AM, but the flood alert mark was breached by the Jhelum in Anantnag and Srinagar and water entered several residential areas, prompting authorities to assure residents that they are monitoring the situation and people should not panic. Massive damage has been reported to public infrastructure, including several key bridges, private houses and commercial establishments, due to overflowing of water bodies and flash floods across the Union Territory, officials said, adding more than 10,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying flooded areas. As torrential rains disrupted normal life, Education Minister Sakina Itoo announced that all educational institutes will remain closed across Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday in view of the inclement weather. The Northern Railways ordered the cancellation of 58 trains to and from Jammu and Katra stations, while 64 trains were short-terminated or short-originated at various stations in the division. Rail traffic, which was briefly restored on Wednesday morning with six trains departing from Jammu after a day-long suspension, has again been halted due to flash floods and heavy soil erosion in the Chakki river area, the officials said. With the rain stopping in some areas, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah rushed to Jammu from Srinagar to personally review the situation in the region. Officials said that the phone and network services were restored across all networks on Wednesday, 24 hours after the damage to optical fibres caused outages in the Union territory The death toll in the Vaishno Devi landslide has gone up to 32 with rescuers pulling out more bodies from under the debris, the officials said, a day after the disaster struck the route to the hilltop shrine in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district. The pilgrimage to the shrine remained suspended for the second day. While the yatra had been stopped on the Himkoti trek route since morning on Tuesday, it was going on the old route till afternoon when authorities decided to suspend it as a precautionary measure. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and briefed them about the post-flood situation. "Due to the cloudburst, several people were swept away by the waters. Many precious lives have been lost, and several others have been injured," he said....