DEHRADUN: In the hills and plains of Uttarakhand, the deluge of nature continues unabated, with 12 more casualties reported since Sunday night. Amid the devastating climatic conditions, the state government has suspended the Chardham Yatra for two days with restrictions on vehicular movement on the yatra route. The State Meteorological Centre has issued a red alert in the state for August 15.
A family from Haryana, who had come to visit Jogiana village, was staying at a resort near Mohan Chatti in Pauri Garhwal, which was buried under the debris due to a landslide on Sunday night. According to information received from the District Disaster Management Office, "Due to torrential rains, a family is reported to be hit by the debris in Garudchatti, on receiving information, Commandant SDRF Manikant Mishra himself reached the spot and started the search and rescue operation".
A four-storey 40-room building of Doon Defence Academy collapsed in Kumalda area adjacent to Maldevata in Dehradun on Monday morning. Yashpal Bisht, chairman of Dass College, told this newspaper, "We have been continuously demanding from the administration and the government for the last 11 months to build an embankment on this drain, which has not been paid any attention, nor has a Pokland machine been provided so that the erosion can be treated in a timely manner".
The rain havoc in the state also affected the under-construction Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail project tunnel. 114 engineers and labourers trapped in Shivpuri tunnel were rescued safely by SDRF and Tehri police. On Monday morning, the company's manager Ajay Pratap Singh sought help from the police for relief when labourers and engineers working in his company's Edit-II tunnel were trapped about 300 meters inside the tunnel filled with about 4 feet of water.
The SDRF team covered a distance of about 9 km under extremely adverse conditions after the road was blocked due to debris in Moldi village going to Tikochi beyond Arakot. "Around 8-10 houses have been damaged by the debris and a woman is missing, who is being searched by the SDRF team," SDRF rescue team commander Manikant Mishra told TNIE over the phone.
"Due to heavy rains, rivers in Tharali, Nandanagar and Pipalkoti areas of the district are overflowing, due to which many houses and cow sheds in Tharali village and Kera village were buried under the debris and small bridges were also damaged at many places," Chamoli District Disaster Management Officer Nandkishore Joshi told this newspaper.
A Nepali-origin man died in Lincholi in Kedarnath after heavy rains. On the other hand, the bridge at Bantoli on the Gondar-Madmamaheshwar pedestrian route has been washed away due to the rains, due to which more than 200 passengers are reported to be trapped in Madhyamaheshwar.
Haridwar District Disaster Management Officer Meera Rawat told this newspaper, "In Haridwar, the water level of Ganga has crossed the danger mark. The danger level is 294 meters, while Ganga is flowing at 294.95 meters, this has created a complete threat in rural areas".
Some areas of Chamoli and Bageshwar districts may receive heavy rains with lightning and strong thunderstorms. Meteorological Centre Director Bikram Singh told this newspaper, "Heavy rains are expected across the state for the next few days, due to which roads may be closed due to landslides in sensitive areas". Ganga, Alaknanda Mandakini rivers are flowing above the danger mark in the state.