Rain ceaseless in U'khand

Landslide kills seven in Dehradun

Heavy rain wreaked havoc on many parts of the country on Saturday, with seven people, including a woman, being killed in Dehradun after three houses were buried in a landslide.

The toll went up to 24 in rain-related incidents in two days in Uttarakhand.

The incident occurred around 2 am in Kathbangla area of Dehradun. The rain triggered a landslide in the hills and the rubble fell on three houses occupied by different families, a police official said. Seven bodies were pulled out of the debris of the houses, Rajpur police station SHO Rajesh Sah said. The victims were sleeping when the mishap occurred.

Another death was reported from Assam, as the Brahmaputra and its tributaries inundated vast tracts of land in Upper Assam and in the Kaziranga National Park following incessant rainfall in the catchment areas. A minor boy was washed away by the flood water in Naoboicha area of Lakhimpur.

The flood situation turned critical in Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Sonitpur districts. In Kaziranga National Park (KNP), the rising water of the Brahmaputra inundated low-lying areas in almost all the ranges with the animals moving to the highlands in neighbouring Karbi Anglong district, KNP DFO S K Seal Sarmah said.

“Water has entered 50 camps across the park with three camps evacuated in the Northern range,” he said.The animals have migrated to the highland across NH-37, Seal Sarmah added.

Flood water has also risen in the rivers Sarigharia, Koha, Kumotia and Gainodi resulting in the damage of several hectares of standing crops.

Meanwhile, many villages in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts of West Bengal have been submerged by flood waters of the river Duduya and Sankosh, officials said.

The flood-hit people have been provided with polythene sheets, kerosene and packed food by the district administration. In Uttar Pradesh, with Raptie river flowing above the danger level, the Centre issued a warning of “high flood situation” on Saturday.