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Uttarakhand rain fury: Death toll rises to 5, 12 still missing
A man’s body was recovered under the Badasi bridge over the Song River by a deep diving team of SDRF in the Soda-Saroli area of Dehradun on Sunday
The teams of the Uttarakhand state disaster response force (SDRF) continued their rescue and search operation on Sunday after torrential rains caused havoc in parts of the state, causing flash floods and landslides. Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 5.
In the Soda-Saroli area of Dehradun, a man’s body was recovered under the Badasi bridge over the Song River by a deep diving team of SDRF engaged in the search operation for missing persons. Three people were found dead in Tehri Garhwal district and one in Pauri Garhwal’s Kirti Nagar on Saturday.
According to the state emergency operation centre, 12 people are still missing.
SDRF said they were yet to trace the five members of a family who were feared trapped under the debris of a house in Gwar village of Dhanaulti block in Tehri Garhwal district.
The bodies of two of the family members were recovered on Saturday. Lalita Negi, SDRF media in-charge, said they had to stop the search operation at night due to darkness.
She said they were trying to establish communication with the relief operation in the Tehri district. “We don’t have information about the current status of the rescue operation due to network issues,” she said.
A team of SDRF rescued a batch of pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab stuck at a resort in Mohan Chatti in the Pauri Garhwal district
In Dehradun’s Maldevta area, the SDRF personnel rescued 24 pilgrims who were stuck at a resort. Meanwhile, villagers were taken to safer locations through alternative routes.
On Saturday, the bridge on Raipur-Thano road over the Song River that connects 12 villages with the other parts of the district was washed away.
Director general of police Ashok Kumar along with MLA Pritam Singh Panwar, district magistrate Tehri Garhwal, DIG Garhwal division, SSP Dehradun and Commandant SDRF inspected the disaster-affected areas of Kumalda in Tehri Garhwal, Sarkhet and Maldevta in Dehradun and nearby areas.
He directed the SDRF personnel to prepare alternative connectivity routes for affected villagers at the earliest and continue the search for missing persons.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Dehradun centre in its daily bulletin said, “Monsoon activity remained weak in the past 24 hours.” The state received 2.2 mm rainfall against a normal of 10.3 mm, recording a negative departure of 79 per cent”.
In its five-day district-level weather forecast report for the next three days, IMD said, “Light to moderate rainfall/thundershower is likely to occur at a few places in hills and at isolated places in plains of Uttarakhand with intense shower at isolated places in hills of Uttarakhand.”
For coming Wednesday, the weather department has issued a yellow alert, forecasting heavy rainfall at isolated places in Dehradun and Bageshwar districts.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday asked experts from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology and HESCO (Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation) to inspect the disaster-prone areas and give their suggestions on preventing damage caused by disasters.
The chief minister said that the administration and SDRF teams are continuously conducting relief and rescue operations as well as other arrangements in the disaster-affected areas. He said if there is a need for helicopters, then help from the army will also be taken. State helicopters have also been put on alert mode for the disaster-affected areas.
