Cloudburst Causes Huge Damage in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi, Five People Go Missing, Several Houses Damaged
With heavy downpour lashing the Himalayan states since a couple of days and MeT Department predicting more rains in the upcoming days, another news coming for Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi is worrying, where five people have gone missing in Uttarkashi district after a cloudburst. CM Trivendra Singh Rawat directed officials to carry out rescue operations.
Dehradun, August 18: With heavy downpour lashing the Himalayan states since a couple of days and MeT Department predicting more rains in the upcoming days, another news coming for Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi is worrying. Reports arrived that five people have gone missing in Uttarkashi district after a cloudburst.
Following the heavy rainfall and cloudburst in Uttarkashi and nearby districts, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat directed the Uttarkashi District Magistrate and Disaster Management Secretary to carry out rescue and evacuation operations. He also directed the authorities to provide relief material to people impacted by the cloudburst. Himachal Pradesh Rains: Landslides and Flash Floods Block Highways, Heavy Downpour Kills 2 People; IMD Predicts More Rainfall
Citing situations like 2013 Kedarnath cloudburst, the state government is not chances and have dispatched Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for rescue operations. However, heavy rains are hindering the rescue teams to reach the affected place.
Informing more about the situation, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan told news agency ANI, "We have received information about people being stranded and damage to a few houses in Makudi and Digoli due to heavy rainfall. Teams of SDRF, Red Cross, ITBP and NDRF have been moved for rescue and evacuation operations."
It is to known that major national and state highways have either been shut down or been affected by the flash floods and landslides. Among the main highway, Gangotri highway has been shut down after debris fell from mountains on the road.
The situation remains similar in the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. There too, people were seen stuck on highways as flash floods and landslides have created havoc. Almost all the rivers are flowing above the danger mark.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 18, 2019 03:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).