Eight feared dead in cloudburst in Uttarakhand

Uttarkashi-Dehradun highway closed due to a landslide. Pic/ANI

Dehradun: Around eight people went missing and several others were injured in heavy rains at various places in Uttarakhand on Sunday. Several houses in Arakot, Makuri and Tikochi villages were flattened by cloudbursts in Mori block of Uttarkashi district.

The State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) in Dehradun informed about eight people going missing in these incidents so far. A woman was also washed away in Dehradun district when her car fell into a seasonal river. State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) teams have been rushed to the affected areas but rescue operations are being hampered by incessant rains.

The SEOC said that Uttarkashi District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan is monitoring the situation while senior administrative and police officials have left for the rain-hit villages. Chardham Yatra routes are also blocked by debris of landslides at various points affecting the yatra partially.

The Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway was blocked at Lambagad and Tangri, the Kedarnath highway at Banswada and Jamu Nursery, Gangotri NH at Harshil, Badeti and Helgugad and Yamunotri Highway at Dabarkot, they said.

There was also a landslide on the Kailash-Mansarovar route which affected the pilgrimage with devotees being moved to safer places, the SEOC said.

Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from IANS

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