NEW DELHI: Heavy destruction has been reported in many areas of Chamoli district after devastating rains and cloudbursts late last night. A large part of the hill adjacent to Brahmatal-Suptal and Bhekaltal in Sol valley was submerged in the Pranmati river, as a result, the river took a terrible form, and frightened villagers who spent the whole night outside the houses.
According to information received by the SDRF, large boulders and hundreds of uprooted trees started flowing like small poles along the river bank, and as soon as the sound of thunder spread along the river bank with strong current, local villagers of the area alerted the people living on the banks of the river in
Tharali, Kulsari, and Harmani to get out of their houses and move to safer places.
District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana told The New Indian Express, "The revenue department team has been directed to visit the spot to take stock of the damage and rehabilitate the affected". The damage will be assessed after the report.
On the other hand, in Yamkeshwar block of Pauri last night, there was huge devastation in Bairagad village of gram panchayat Sinduri. Local villagers were forced to leave their homes in fear throughout the night. "Here, after the sudden overflow of the rivulet, the river changed its course and merged into the
Haival river and caused havoc in many houses in the middle of the village, many houses were buried in the debris", villager Rajendra Singh told this daily.
"We had constructed a temporary bridge here, but the same was washed away in the flood of Pranmati river on Wednesday night and again Tharali and Suna villages, with a population of over 5,000, were completely cut off from the rest of the state," said Bhuvan Gairola, another villager.
SDRF PRO Lalita Negi told this newspaper, "Due to heavy rains on Thursday night, rivers and streams in Jollygrant area overflowed, due to which damage has been reported at many places. While flood water entered the airport due to heavy rains, the railings on the footpath on the airport route were damaged at
several places".
The Meteorological Center has predicted some relief from rain for the next two days. Director Bikram Singh told this daily, "After August 22, there is a possibility of heavy rains in most areas of the state".
As a precautionary measure, the administration and police have ordered cancellation of all bookings of resorts and hotels till August 31.