Uttarakhand cloudburst | Death toll rises to 21, landslides at several areas hinder rescue operations

Lucknow: The death toll in the cloudburst near Sahastradhara and rain related incidents in Uttarakhand on Monday night and early Tuesday morning rose to 21 with recovery of more dead bodies even as 14 people were reportedly missing.

According to the reports, the popular tourist destinations of Mussoorie and Sahastradhara were still cut off from Dehradun owing to the widespread damage caused to the roads following landslides at several places.

Reports said that two bodies were recovered from Song river in Raipur area on Wednesday while one body was recovered from Aasan river.

Reports said that six people were reportedly trapped under the debris in Phulet village near Sahastradhara and teams of SDRF and police have launched operations to rescue them.

Reports said that the residents of the affected villages of Majada, Cahamsari and Jamada left for safer places on foot after the cloudburst at Sahastradhara. The administration was trying to provide them food and other relief material.

Heavy rains and cloudburst wreaked havoc in Dehradun and nearby places in the state early on Tuesday morning. Torrential rains caused widespread damage in the Garhwal region in the state damaging roads, bridges, hotels and shops severely affecting movement of traffic in several districts.

Police said that seven devotees from Madhya Pradesh were injured while one was missing after their vehicle overturned near Marwadi on the Badrinath Highway on Wednesday. The condition of two of the injured was stated to be critical.

The residents recalled the horror after the cloudburst near Sahastradhara and said that they barely got time to run to safety. The residents blew whistles and warned others. ‘’All we could hear was shouts and cries of the people,’’ said a resident of Majada village.

The state government has launched a massive relief and rescue operation to reach out to the people in the affected villages and also open the roads to enable the vehicles carrying milk and other products to reach there.