Dehradun |Five people were killed and eleven others went missing as heavy rains and a series of cloudbursts wreaked havoc in various districts of Uttarakhand early Friday, triggering landslides that damaged houses and left people buried under mounds of rubble, officials said.
Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri and Bageshwar districts bore the brunt of the natural calamity which came close on the heels of the Tharali disaster on August 23.
Uttarakhand has been hit hard by natural calamities this monsoon season. Before the disaster in Tharali in Chamoli, a devastating flash flood in the Kheer Ganga river in Uttarkashi district on August 5 demolished nearly half of Dharali -- the key stopover en route to Gangotri with many hotels and homestays, and neighbouring Harsil, where an Army camp bore the brunt of the flood fury, barely giving time to the victims to run to safety.
A total of 69 people went missing, including nine Army personnel, 25 Nepali nationals, 13 from Bihar, six from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Dharali, five from areas close to Uttarkashi, two from Tehri and one from Rajasthan.
The Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) here said excess overnight rainfall damaged nearly half-a-dozen houses in Pausari gram panchayat in Kapkot area of Bageshwar district, killing two persons and leaving three missing and one injured.
Two bodies have been recovered, one person has been rescued in an injured condition in Begeshwar while three others are still missing, the USDMA said.
A house and a cowshed were buried under the landslide debris in Mopata village of Chamoli district, killing a couple and leaving another injured, Chief Development Officer Abhishek Tripathi said.
Twenty-five livestock are also reported to be missing in Chamoli district, the USDMA said.
Incessant rain and landslides in Basukedaar area of Rudraprayag district have caused heavy damage in more than half-a-dozen villages, the officials said.
Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said a woman died in a house collapse at Jakholi in Rudraprayag district, adding three cloudbursts occurred in the district.
Rudraprayag Superintendent of Police (SP) Akshay Prahlad Konde said there is information about four locals and as many Nepalis getting trapped under debris in Chenagad area. With the road broken at seven-eight places, rescue teams are facing difficulties in reaching the place, he said.
A house has been damaged in Syur village of the same area and a car parked on the road has been swept away by the debris. The ravines on both sides of Badeth, Bagaddhar and Taljaman villages are flooded.
SDRF IG Arun Mohan Joshi said 70 people left stranded in Taljaman and Kund villages of Rudraprayag district have been moved to safer places.
Videos on social media showed rescuers helping stranded people precariously cross through raging streams using ropes.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami spoke to the district magistrates concerned through video conferencing and asked them to ensure that relief and rescue operations are carried out rapidly in the affected areas.
NDRF, SDRF, DDRF and revenue police teams have rushed to the disaster-hit districts but are facing difficulties in reaching the affected areas due to broken roads, the officials said.
Incessant rains and cloudbursts also caused heavy losses in Budha Kedar area of Tehri district where sheds built for livestock and temples were buried under the debris.
Locals said that a toilet and the courtyard of a house in Genwali village of Budha Kedar area of Ghansali were hit by the landslides.
The security wall built by the irrigation department after the disaster last year also got washed away due to debris and heavy rains. Due to continuous rains, the Balganga, Dharmganga and Bhilangana rivers are in spate, triggering panic among the locals.
Potato fields were also buried under the rubble, former village head of Genwali Kirti Singh Rana said. However, there is no report of any loss of life in this.
The water level of Alaknanda and its tributaries and Mandakini river is continuously rising due to continuous rain. Police are alerting the people living on the banks of the river by making announcements.
The Badrinath national highway was blocked due to debris at many places in Chamoli-Nandprayag, Kameda, Bhanerpani, Pagalnala, Jilasoo, Gulabkoti and Chatwapipal.
In Rudraprayag district too, the Badrinath national highway is closed at Sirobgadh while the Kedarnath highway has been blocked at four different places between Banswara (Syalsaur) and Kund to Chopta.
According to the administration, teams are working on the spot to open the route.
Pilgrims have been requested to set out on the journey only after taking information about the road and to follow the updates issued from time to time by the police and administration.
The MeT department has issued a red alert of heavy to very heavy rains for Bageshwar, Chamoli, Dehradun and Rudraprayag districts of Uttarakhand over the next 24 hours.
An orange alert of heavy to very heavy rains has also been issued for Champawat, Haridwar, Pithoragarh, Udham Singh Nagar and Uttarkashi districts during the period.
