Seven people were killed and two other injured in rain-related incidents in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun district on Wednesday, The Indian Express reported. Government schools and anganwadi centres in Dehradun will remain closed due to heavy rain, while the District Magistrate of Nainital has ordered the closure of all schools.
The India Meteorological Department has warned of heavy rain in Uttarakhand till Sunday.
A family of four from Darbhanga district in Bihar died and two were injured when the buttress of their house collapsed in Shastri Nagar area of Dehradun, reported ANI. Three people reportedly drowned in different parts of the city. Police and rescue teams have recovered the bodies of two people and are searching for the third body.
Senior Superintendent of Police Nivedita Kukreti said teams of Incident Response System, National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force have joined the rescue efforts. “Due to heavy rains, drains have overflowed at several places,” said Kukreti. “We have evacuated people who were trapped, and the bodies [of two people who drowned] have been sent for post-mortem.”
In Pithoragarh district’s Nachani, a suspension bridge was washed away in the incessant rain, reported ANI. In Thal area of the district, 100 students of a school were sent home after water level in the Ramganga river began to rise.
At least 319 people of 74 families have moved to relief camps set up across the district. Water levels in the Kali, Saryu, and Gori rivers in Pithoragarh are nearing the danger mark, reported The Indian Express.
Landslides blocked the Rishikesh-Yamunotri national highway in Uttarkashi and the Mussoorie-Maletha national highway in Tehri. The highway which connects Chamba and Rishikesh near Fakot and Bhinnu and the Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway in Tehri Garhwal district’s Bemund too remained blocked. Clearing operations are under way at these locations.
Till Wednesday noon, 13 roads (rural) in Dehradun district, 18 roads in Pauri district, one in Almora district, three in Nainital district, and two in Champawat district remained blocked due to landslips. Two state highways in Champawat, and the the Kapkot-Pindari glacier road in Bageshwar remained blocked, reported The Indian Express.
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has ordered officers who are on leave to return to work in view of the relief work.
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