Cloudburst, landslides in Uttarakhand; four dead, many families buried under rubble

Dehradun, Aug 29 (PTI) Four people were killed and three went missing as heavy rains and cloudbursts wreaked havoc in various districts of Uttarakhand early Friday, triggering landslides that left about 30-40 families buried under mounds of rubble and damaged houses, officials said.

Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri and Bageshwar were among the districts hard hit by the natural calamity.

The Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) here said excess overnight rainfall damaged nearly half a dozen houses in Pausari Gram Panchayat in Kapkot area of Bageshwar district, killing two people and leaving three others missing.

Two bodies have been recovered so far in the incident while three other people are missing, it said. A house and a cowshed were buried under landslide debris in Mopata village of Chamoli district, killing a couple and leaving another injured, Chief Development Officer Abhishek Tripathi said.

Incessant rain and landslides in Basukedaar area of Rudraprayag district have caused heavy damage in more than half a dozen villages, officials said. There is also information about 30-40 families getting trapped in the debris and flood waters in Taljaman village of Rudraprayag district, the USDMA said.

Rudraprayag Superintendent of Police Akshay Prahlad Konde said there is information about four locals and as many Nepalis getting trapped under debris in Chenagad area. With the road broken at 7-8 places rescue teams are facing difficulties in reaching the place, he said.

A house has been damaged in Syur village of the same area and a car parked on the road has been swept away by the debris. The ravines on both sides of Badeth, Bagaddhar and Taljamani villages are flooded.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in a post on X said, "Sad news has been received about some families being stranded due to debris falling in the wake of cloudbursts in Badeth Dungar under Tehsil Basukedaar area of Rudraprayag district and Dewal area of Chamoli district." "Relief and rescue work is going on on a war footing by the local administration, I am constantly in touch with the officials in this regard, I have spoken to the Disaster Secretary and District Magistrates and given necessary instructions for effective conduct of rescue operations," he said.

"I pray to Baba Kedar for everyone's safety," he said.

Dhami spoke to the district magistrates concerned through video conferencing and asked them to ensure that relief and rescue operations are carried out rapidly in the affected areas.

NDRF, SDRF, DDRF and revenue police teams have rushed to the disaster-hit districts.

Incessant rains and cloudbursts also caused heavy losses in Budha Kedar area of Tehri district where sheds built for livestock and temples were buried under the debris. Locals said that a toilet and the courtyard of a house in Genwali village of Budha Kedar area of Ghansali was hit by the landslides.

The security wall built by the irrigation department after the disaster last year also got washed away due to debris and heavy rains. Due to continuous rains, the Balganga, Dharmganga and Bhilangana rivers are in spate, triggering panic among the locals.

Potato fields were also buried under the rubble, former village head of Genwali Kirti Singh Rana said. However, there is no report of any loss of life in this.

The water level of Alaknanda and its tributaries and Mandakini river is continuously rising due to continuous rain. The police is alerting the people living on the banks of the river by making announcements.

The Badrinath national highway was blocked due to debris at many places in Chamoli-Nandprayag, Kameda, Bhanerpani, Pagalnala, Jilasoo, Gulabkoti and Chatwapipal.

In Rudraprayag district too, the Badrinath national highway is closed at Sirobgadh while the Kedarnath Highway has been blocked at four different places between Banswara (Syalsaur) and Kund to Chopta.

According to the administration, teams are working on the spot to open the route.

Pilgrims have been requested to set out on the journey only after taking information about the road and to follow the updates issued from time to time by the police and administration.

The MeT department has issued a red alert of heavy to very heavy rains for Bageshwar, Chamoli, Dehradun and Rudraprayag districts of Uttarakhand over the next 24 hours.

An orange alert of heavy to very heavy rains has also been issued for Champawat, Haridwar, Pithoragarh, Udham Singh Nagar and Uttarkashi districts during the period.

Uttarakhand has been hit hard by natural calamities in the monsoon season.

A devastating flashflood in the Kheer Ganga river on August 5 demolished nearly half of Dharali -- the key stopover en route to Gangotri with many hotels and homestays, and neighbouring Harsil, where an Army camp bore the brunt of the flood fury, barely giving time to the victims to run to safety.

A total of 69 people went missing, including nine Army personnel, 25 Nepali nationals, 13 from Bihar, six from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Dharali, five from areas close to Uttarkashi, two from Tehri and one from Rajasthan. PTI ALM ALM DV DV DV