Rain fury in Uttarakhand leaves three dead, Chardham Yatra suspended

PTI

Dehradun, August 14

Torrential rains ravaged Uttarakhand on Monday, destroying buildings and causing landslides which breached the national highways to Badrinath, Kedarnath and Gangotri shrines and left three people dead and five others missing.

A private defence training academy on the outskirts of Dehradun also collapsed amid the incessant rains.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a meeting with senior officials to review the rain situation in the state and it was decided to suspend the Chardham yatra for two days.

Rudraprayag district disaster management officer Nandan Singh Rajwar said a landslide hit a camp at Lincholi near Kedarnath, killing one person identified as 26-year-old Kalu Bahadur from Nepal.

Two bodies were also recovered from rain-fed streams near Shiv Mandir and Miranagar areas in Rishikesh.

One of them has been identified as 35-year-old Dinesh Panwar, a resident of Amit Gram. The other body is being identified, an official at AIIMS, Rishikesh where the bodies have been kept said.

Four-five people were missing after a landslide in Laxmanjhula area of Pauri district.

Heavy rains triggered the landslide whose debris fell on a resort in the area trapping four-five people under it, Senior Superintendent of Police, Pauri, Shweta Choubey told PTI over phone.

Rescue and relief teams have reached the spot and a search operation has been started, she said.

Dhami, in a Facebook post, said heavy casualties have been reported due to rains in Pauri which is extremely sad.

Swollen rivers inundated many districts with surging rain water entering buildings and submerging vehicles.  

Located on the banks of Song river near Lalpul, the building of the Dehradun Defence Academy caved in on Monday morning, Tehri Sub Divisional Magistrate Ashish Ghildiyal said. No one was injured as the building had been vacated in advance, he said.

It is a private institution whose building was constructed 15 years ago, former Zilla panchayat member Akhilesh Uniyal said.

Most of the rivers were overflowing due to the rain with the Ganga flowing above the danger mark in Tehri, Haridwar and Rishikesh.

Alaknanda, Mandakini and Ganga rivers were flowing above the danger level at Rudraprayag, Shrinagar and Devprayag, the disaster control room here said.

The Badrinath National highway is blocked at a number of places due to landslide debris. There is also information about one person being buried under the debris near Pipalkoti.

In Chamoli district, a flood-like situation has developed along the banks of a dozen rivers, including Alaknanda and its tributaries Pindar, Nandakini and Birhi. 

Pindar's tributary Pranmati was also flooded due to landslide. Landslides in the upper reaches of Nandakini have caused the water level of the river to increase in the lower areas.

There are reports of loss of lives due to landslides in Pipalkoti town and surrounding areas on Badrinath National Highway.

River Ganga is flowing at the danger mark in Rishikesh, Junior Engineer, Central Water Commission, Sunny Vishnoi said. The Commission recorded 435 mm of rainfall in Rishikesh on Sunday night.

#RedAlert
Uttarakhand is predicted to experience heavy to very heavy rainfall reaching extremely heavy levels (more than 204.4mm) on 14th August. Stay safe! #Uttarakhand #SevereRainfall #StaySafe @moesgoi @DDNewslive @ndmaindia @airnewsalerts pic.twitter.com/CeV86hcKNC

— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) August 14, 2023

Heavy rains have also inundated various low lying areas in Rishikesh, including Chandreshwar Nagar and Sheesham Jhari. The rural areas near Rishikesh have been flooded with the State Disaster Response Force evacuating people to safer places.

The Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for rain for Monday in six districts of Uttarakhand, including Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital and Champawat and issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rain in Haridwar.

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