Woman killed, houses filled with sludge as cloudburst triggers flash flood in Uttarakhand village

Swollen Mahakali river after a cloudburst at Dharchula near the India-Nepal border, in Pithoragarh district. Pic/PTI

A cloudburst in a border village of Nepal triggered a flash flood in Khotila village on the Indian side as waters of the swelling Kali river rushed into homes, filling them with sludge and killing a woman.

The body of Pashupati Devi, a resident of Khotila village, was later pulled out of the sludge that had choked her house after the flooding of the river, Pithoragarh District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan said.

The village is located near Dharchula town in Pithoragarh district, he said.

The cloudburst occurred past midnight in Bangabagar village across the India-Nepal border, Chauhan said. The river waters mixed with debris gushed into 36 homes in Khotila village, officials said.

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The woman killed in the incident did not get the time to unbolt the door of her home and run to safety, the DM said.

He said 170 affected people of the village have been evacuated and put up in makeshift shelters built at Dharchula stadium.

The affected village on the Nepal side of the border received 132.2 mm of rainDM Chauhan said. The cloudburst has caused casualties on the Nepal side of the border too, the officials said.

Pithoragarh District Disaster Management Officer Bhupendra Singh Mahar said some animals belonging to villagers have also been lost.

The Dharchula administration is running relief and rescue operations on the spot with the help of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and police personnel, Mahar said.

The extent of damage is yet to be assessed, he said.

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