Uttarakhand floods toll rises to 34; ITBP, police search for bodies
ITBP
and police personnel on Sunday searched debris of flattened homes and
dug rubbles to look for more bodies in rain-ravaged Uttarakhand where
the toll due to the incessant downpour reached 34.
Six people were still missing in the Uttarkashi district, said a top
government official. "In Uttarakashi alone, 31 people have been killed
and six are still missing following heavy rains," District Magistrate R
Rajesh Kumar said. Twenty three workers of the state-run UJVN Ltd’s
Assi Ganga hydel project, who went missing early Saturday following a
cloud burst in the upper hills of Uttarkashi district, have now been
declared dead. "We are now counting these 23 workers in the list of
dead people," said Kumar.
During the past two days, incessant rains battered the hill state
triggering landslides, cloud bursts and flash floods which flattened
homes and stranded hundreds of pilgrims with the chardham yatra coming
to a grinding halt. The Garhwal region bore the brunt of the natural
disaster in the wake of heavy rains with the government sounding a high
alert in the state. The Army has also been alerted in the wake of the
heavy rains in the hill state. Elsewhere in the state, three people
were killed in Chamoli district following heavy rains since Saturday.
The government has launched relief and rescue operations and has sent
food packets to the affected people. Nearly, 250 families have already
been taken to safer areas in the different areas of Uttarkashi and
Chamoli districts. Kumar said only six people are now missing from
different parts of the district. "We have launched a manhunt to trace
the missing people," he said. Efforts were on to reopen blocked
highways leading to chardham yatra as scores of pilgrims were still
stranded at various places at Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag and Chamoli
districts.
The landslides are common in the fragile hills of Garhwal region causing
disruption of roads which in turn often cause road accidents leading to
fatalities. Last year, the government had suspended the chardham yatra
all the four shrines Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri
following heavy landslides and torrential rains for nearly one week.
Meanwhile, chief minister Vijay Bahuguna was monitoring the situation
and held a meeting with chief secretary Alok Kumar Jain to discuss the
latest situation. The CM asked the concerned authorities to speed up
rescue and relief operation in the disaster—hit areas. The CM also
asked the concerned officers to reopen roads leading to the pilgrim
shrines so that the stranded pilgrims can go home. Official sources
said the chief minister would shortly visit the rain-hit areas of the
state to take stock of the situation
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