A total of six persons died in flood and house collapse in different parts of Pauri district on Friday. Five persons died following flood in the Kho river after heavy rains in the Manpur and refugee colony area of Kotdwar in Pauri district on Friday. A teenager died in Dwarikhal block after her house collapsed following heavy rains.
The Kho river is in a state of spate with water gushing into the residential areas. Those who died as a result of the flood were identified as lakshaya Arora (25), Ajay Kumar (40), Shanti Devi (60), Rajesh Saini (75) and Jyoti Aarora ( 40). A team of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) was rushed to the spots and it launched operation to retrieve those swept away by the flood. Pauri district magistrate Sushil Kumar and senior superintendent of police Jagat Ram Joshi inspected the affected areas to monitor things. According to sources, a 16-year-old girl Mushkan Banu died too after walls collapsed on her in village Rama under Dwarikhal block. However, other members of the family were rescued by the police team from Gumkhal. Crops were damaged in Sinala village with the agricultural fields coming under the muck released by landslides that followed the cloudburst. The roof of a school also caved in, though no one was injured. The district magistrate announced that the district administration will provide Rs four lakh ex-gratia to each of the families of those killed in disaster. he further informed that about 350 families affected by disaster scenario were being provided temporary shelter in government school, Dharmshala and other locations in the region.
According to the district disaster control room, Kotdwar tehsil has recorded 245 mm rain till 12 pm on Friday, while the figures were 85 mm for lansdowne, 28 mm for Dhumakot, 14 mm for Chaubattakhal and 9 mm for Satpuli. Alaknanda river is swelling too with the level reaching 534.10 metre. While the national highway is open in the district three state highways and 19 rural roads are blocked. The Met department warned of more of heavy downpour in the district along with some others in the next 48 hours.