Heavy rains cause surge in Rishiganga river; scared villagers spend night in caves in Uttarakhand

Heavy rains in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand caused a surge in the Rishiganga river as panic-stricken people in nearby villages left their houses and took refuge in caves to spend the night.

With the horrifying images of the February 7 flashfloods in Rishiganga following an avalanche still playing in their minds, residents of Raini and Jugju villages downstream of the river rushed to nearby forests to take refuge in caves where they spent the night with the help of lanterns on Tuesday.

Chamoli's District Disaster Management Officer N K Joshi said NDRF teams have been sent to the villages to help residents.

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An alert has also been sounded for people living in the river valley, he said.

The official, however, said the water level in Rishiganga came down and became normal later on Tuesday night itself as it stopped raining.

An avalanche on February 7 had caused a flashflood in the Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers of Chamoli district, demolishing the Rishiganga hydel project at Raini completely and causing heavy damage to NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project.

More than 200 people had gone missing after the avalanche. Eighty bodies and 35 human body parts of people killed in the avalanche have been recovered during a massive search and rescue operation which continues in the affected areas, officials said.