E-Paper
4 houses collapse, one bridge damaged in overnight heavy rain in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh
The Dehradun centre of India Meteorological Department in its weather forecast has predicted heavy rain in some places of Pithoragarh and Nainital districts in the state.
At least four houses collapsed and one bridge was damaged due to incessant rain on Saturday night in the hill town of Munsiyari in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, about 450 km from Dehradun. No loss of life has been reported in any of the incidents, officials said on Sunday.
Due to heavy rain, the water level of Gori river in the area has risen after which people living near it have been shifted towards safe areas by the local administration, said officials.
Girija Shankar Joshi, district information officer Pithoragarh, said, “The heavy rain had started at around 11 pm on Saturday in the Munsiyari area. As the downpour increased, the local station house officer and sub-divisional magistrate concerned reached the area to evacuate the people living near Gori River to a safe place.”
Joshi said, “There were four families living in their houses built near the swollen Gori River which were evacuated from there. They were earlier warned and asked to shift from there but they didn’t listen. As a result, their houses collapsed in the night due to heavy rain. However, luckily there was no loss of life.”
The official also informed that a bridge was also severely damaged in the heavy rain.
“A 120m long bridge en route Jouljibi was also badly damaged. Authorities concerned are constructing a Bailey bridge there which will take about three days. Also, some water pipelines were also damaged in the rain which will be repaired within 24 hours. Senior district officials are keeping an eye on the situation,” said Joshi.
Meanwhile, the administration has provided ration to the four affected families who lost their houses in the rain.
“All the affected families have been provided 20 kg ration and other essentials besides a sum of Rs 1.19 lakh as compensation for the washed away houses. The administration will provide every possible help to them,” said AK Shukla, SDM, Dharchula.
The main roads connecting district headquarters to Bangapani, Munsiyari and Dharchula areas were also damaged due to the incessant rain, disrupting traffic.
“The roads towards these places have been closed since night. Repair works are going on and the traffic would be resumed soon,” said Ram Dutt Paliwal, additional district magistrate.
Meanwhile, the Dehradun centre of India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its weather forecast has predicted heavy rain in some places of Pithoragarh and Nainital districts in the state.
“There would be heavy rain in some isolated places in the two above-mentioned districts but no repetition of Saturday night’s rainfall in Munsiyari area today. On Monday, the heavy rain will occur in some places of Haridwar, Bageshwar, Pauri Garhwal, Nainital and Pithoragarh districts,” said Bikram Singh, Director Dehradun centre IMD.
Singh also said, “At present, there are not many showers in the Garhwal region; it is active in Kumaon because the movement of monsoon is not strong in northwest Himalayas. After July 22 or 24, one can expect good showers in Garhwal also.”
