In the first landslide-related death in Dehradun district this year at a time when monsoon is yet to officially hit the State, a 16-year-old girl was buried under the debris after part of Mussoorie-Dhanaulti road caved in at Bataghat in Mussoorie on the wee hours of Monday. The deceased was identified as Deepika. Five members of the family were sleeping in their house when the debris came crashing down on them. While the girl died on the spot others managed to get out of the collapsing house.
As heavy rain lashed Dehradun district on Sunday night several reports of road blockage due to landslips and collapse of boundary walls have come in. A Mussoorie police station officer said that traffic movement was adversely affected between Mussoorie and Dhanaulti after the road caved in. He further said that the PWD officials were busy to repair the damaged road.
Meanwhile, as torrential rain accompanied with frequent flashes of lightning and claps of thunder lashed the district on the small hours of Monday, many living in the vulnerable areas spent sleepless night.
Monday saw many nallahs clogged and low lying areas waterlogged. The stretches of the dug-up roads caused risky rides for the commuters with the authority doing nothing to repair things before the onset of the rainy season.
Meanwhile, the disaster control room officials said that around 40 persons affected by the rains from various parts of the district had registered reports with them, seeking help from the administration. “We have received reports of roads being blocked due to landslides, water logging, water getting into houses and collapse of the boundary walls among others,” an official working at the control room said. He further said that the department officers concerned have been informed to address the complaints.
It is learnt that the callers from Cross Road Mall, Dobhalwala Chowk, Majra Kuanwala Badripur, Mehuwala and Shiv Vihar among other places had reported of rain water having entered their houses. landslides were reported from Chamasari-Dabyani Bardara, Kalighat Sarona motor road, Sahastradhara Kalighat motor road, NH Doiwala Tyuni Chakrata, Mussoorie Chamba Tehri motor road and NH-707 while Dau motor road and Kahanau motor road at Kalsi in the Chakrata region were damaged. At Chakrata Tyuni Bhanar, the rain damaged the tomatos. At Sunir Goan under Chakrata block, two payjal lines were damaged aside from the damage caused to Dewalkhat bridge. Boundary walls of some houses crumbled at Duliyana Bridge. Rain damaged several toilets at Bhatta Goan. Road at Kaulagarh Prempur was damaged too. The department officers are working hard to open the blocked roads and to repair the damaged bridges, a control room official said.