Uttarakhand rain kills 7, blocks Dehradun-Mussoorie highway, swells rivers
Heavy rain claimed at least seven lives and triggered a series of landslides, house collapses and flash-flood-like situations across Uttarakhand on Tuesday, while falling boulders blocked the arterial Dehradun-Mussoorie highway and disrupted traffic, according to officials.
At least three people were killed after the walls of a house collapsed around 3 am in Odyuda village in Almora's Havalbagh block. The deceased were identified as Prema Devi (42), Kalpana Arya (19), and Manish Kumar (18), officials said.
One person, Gulab Ram, who was sleeping in a room outside the main house, managed to escape safely.
The administration and rescue teams rushed to the spot after receiving information. An SDRF team led by Sub-Inspector Pankaj Dangwal also reached the site from the Sariyapani post and joined the rescue operation.
The team had to proceed on foot after finding the road blocked by debris about three kilometres before the site. Carrying necessary rescue equipment, the personnel coordinated with local residents, the Fire Service and district police to search through the rubble and recover the bodies.
The bodies were handed over to the district police for further necessary action and have been sent for post-mortem.
The relentless downpour also wreaked havoc on roads, rivers and residential areas, with the Dehradun-Mussoorie highway among the worst affected as repeated landslides, road subsidence and falling boulders blocked and narrowed stretches of the arterial route, disrupting traffic near Mussoorie.
In another incident in Almora town, two Nepalese labourers were killed after a wall of an old house collapsed in the Dharkituni area.
The District Control Room received information about the incident at 11.36 am on Tuesday.
On reaching the site, the SDRF personnel launched a swift rescue operation and cleared the debris to retrieve the two men. However, both had already died.
Their bodies were handed over to the district police. The deceased, believed to be around 30 and 35 years old, were of Nepalese origin and their identities were still being established.
The latest incidents have taken the rain-related death toll in Almora district to at least five, with incessant rainfall since last night triggering several disaster-related incidents.
In Dehradun, a rain-swollen current swept away a car near Kandoli Bridge on Poundha Road in the Lower Kandoli area under the Prem Nagar police station late Monday night.
Two women and a man were travelling in the vehicle when it was swept away by the strong current. An SDRF team from Dakpathar, led by Assistant Sub-Inspector Suresh Tomar, immediately launched a search and rescue operation after receiving information about the incident.
The operation continued throughout the night despite adverse weather and strong currents.
During the search, one of the women, Sahaj, was found injured at a location around two kilometres from the incident site and handed over to the police.
The bodies of Akshay, a 20-year-old resident of Jaipur, and the other woman were also recovered. They were handed over to the police for further necessary action.
Meanwhile, the Dehradun-Mussoorie highway bore the brunt of the heavy rain, with repeated landslides, road subsidence and falling boulders disrupting traffic near Mussoorie.
Debris and boulders blocked the road at Pani Wala Bend, while repeated landslides and damage to safety nets installed by the Public Works Department further narrowed the roadway and hampered the movement of vehicles.
The heavy rain also caused rivers and streams to swell across the state.
In Rishikesh, the Bin river surged over an already overflowing causeway, while the Gaula river in Haldwani also witnessed a rise in water levels following incessant rainfall.
Haldwani recorded 192 mm of rain in the 24 hours ending Tuesday, highlighting the intensity of the downpour.
The rain also caused sewer water to flood Nainital's Mall Road.
In Ramnagar, the water level in Belgarh nala on the Ramnagar-Haldwani state highway rose sharply following heavy rainfall late Monday evening, disrupting traffic on the route.
The strong current brought vehicle movement to a halt, with long queues forming on both sides and several vehicles remaining stranded for a considerable period.
A three-wheeler was also swept towards an overflowing stream in Ramnagar and was pulled to safety by members of the public.
With the India Meteorological Department issuing an orange alert amid continuous rainfall, schools and anganwadi centres across Bageshwar district were closed as a precaution.
Bageshwar District Magistrate Apoorva Pandey said reports of landslides and shooting stones had been received from several areas of the district.
She said the administration was closely monitoring the situation and urged residents to stay away from ghats, rivers, streams and other disaster-prone areas, avoid unnecessary travel and immediately report emergencies.
A red alert was issued for Nainital and Almora, while an orange alert covered most other parts of the state.
In view of the weather warning, authorities in Nainital, Almora and Bageshwar ordered schools for Classes 1 to 12 to remain closed.
Disaster management teams remained on alert as authorities and various departments worked to reopen roads affected by landslides and rain-related damage.
