Heavy overnight rain leaves seven people dead in Uttarakhand

Disaster Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said 200 passengers stranded on the Kedarnath route due to falling stones and the washing away of a 20-25 meter footpath near the Bhimbali Chowki have been moved to safer places.

Dehradun: Seven people, including three of a family, were killed and as many injured in Uttarakhand as heavy rains triggered many incidents of house collapse, flooding of areas and rise in water levels in several rivers of the state, officials said on Thursday.

Four people also went missing in rain-related incidents in Dehradun, Haldwani and Chamoli.

Two people were swept away by the waters of an overflowing seasonal canal in Raipur area of Dehradun, the disaster control room here said. The body of one has been recovered while a search is on to find the other, it said.

Water gushed into many homes in Dehradun besides leaving the roads heavily waterlogged at various places in the city. A man was swept away by the swirling waters of a river in Haldwani in Nainital district while in Devchauli in Chamoli district, a woman and a child have been missing since Wednesday evening after a house collapsed, they said and added that a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team has left for the spot.

In Bharpur village in the Bahadarabad area of Haridwar district, three people were killed and as many injured after a house collapsed due to heavy rain on Wednesday night, police said. Three members of a family -- Bhanu Prasad (50), his wife Neelam Devi (45) and son Vipin (28) -- were killed in a landslide which damaged their roadside restaurant following a cloudburst in Jakhanyali village of Tehri district's Ghansali area, the officials said.

Vipin was rescued but died while being taken to the AIIMS in Rishikesh, Tehri District Disaster Management Officer Brijesh Bhatt said.

Nearly a dozen four-wheelers parked along the riverbed of the Sukhi in Haridwar's Kharkhari area were washed away following torrential rain on Wednesday evening.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the SDRF and the administration have been deployed in affected areas of the state, the officials said.

Disaster Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said 200 passengers stranded on the Kedarnath route due to falling stones and the washing away of a 20-25 metre footpath near the Bhimbali Chowki have been moved to safer places.

Pilgrims stranded on the trek route to Kedarnath are being brought to the emergency helipad, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a post on Facebook. An advisory has also been issued for pilgrims bound for Kedarnath asking them to postpone their journey till the road is restored.

Fresh registrations for the Chardham yatra have been put on hold for the time being.

Dhami visited the disaster management centre here on Thursday morning to review the situation across the state and asked officials to remain alert. "Due to heavy rains last night across the state, life was affected at many places. Rescue teams conducted operations throughout the night and took people to safer places. I am in constant touch with the local administration and have instructed the NDRF and SDRF teams to remain on alert mode in the affected areas," Dhami said. "Relief and rescue operations are being conducted in Rambada, Bhimbali, Jakhaniyali and other more affected areas. The safety of every resident of the state, the devotees and tourists coming from other states is our priority, for which our entire team is working with promptness. All of you are requested to travel only after getting an update on the weather situation," he added.

The chief minister also said he will conduct an aerial and ground inspection of the disaster-affected areas of Rudraprayag and Tehri Garhwal districts. In Kharkhari, a truck carrying rations and essentials for a group of kanwariyas was among the vehicles washed away.

No one was there in the truck when the incident took place on Wednesday. Roads were submerged in many areas of Haridwar and the rainwater also entered the Kankhal police station. Many colonies and markets of Bhupatwala, Haridwar, Naya Haridwar, Kankhal and Jwalapur also got flooded.

A house collapsed due to heavy rain in Talla village of Pithoragarh district. Three more houses in the village were damaged. Schools up to class 12 and Anganwadi centres have been closed for Thursday in various districts, including Dehradun.