Five killed, 11 missing after heavy rain, landslides in Uttarakhand

Five persons were killed and 11 went missing as heavy rain and a series of cloudbursts wreaked havoc in various districts of Uttarakhand on Friday, triggering landslides that damaged houses and left people buried under mounds of rubble, officials said.

Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri and Bageshwar districts bore the brunt of the natural calamity, which came close on the heels of the Tharali disaster on August 23.

Uttarakhand has been hit hard by natural calamities this monsoon season. Before the disaster in Tharali in Chamoli, a devastating flashflood in the Kheer Ganga in Uttarkashi district 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.

The Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) here said excess overnight rainfall damaged nearly half a dozen houses in Pausari gram panchayat in the Kapkot area of Bageshwar district, killing two persons and leaving three missing and one injured.

Two bodies were recovered and one injured person rescued in Bageshwar while three others were still missing, the USDMA said.

A house and a cowshed were buried under the 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, the officials said.

Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said a woman died in a house collapse at Jakholi in Rudraprayag district, adding three cloudbursts occurred in the district.

Rudraprayag Superintendent of Police (SP) Akshay Prahlad Konde said there is information about four locals and as many Nepal nationals who were trapped under debris in the Chenagad area. With the road broken at seven-eight places, rescue teams were facing difficulties in reaching the place, he said.