Cloudburst in Uttarkashi: Cloudburst wreaked havoc in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi as houses, roads were damaged, forcing residents to shift to safer places.
The Yamunotri National Highway was blocked at several places due to falling debris near Gangnani on Saturday. The situation worsened as heavy rain lashed the area following the cloudburst incident, causing problems to residents and animals.
According to the local people, the cloudburst happened around 2 am on Saturday. He told that the place where he slept was completely washed away in the rain.
The incident caused heavy damage to properties, two colleges and around five hotels were washed away. In Rajtar town, five laborers somehow saved their lives when the wall collapsed due to rain water and debris. The late night cloudburst damaged Nirvana tourist cottages and debris also entered the premises of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Residential School at Gangnani under Barkot tehsil.
Landslide also occurred in Chharra section
Apart from this, a cloudburst also caused landslides in Chhara block of Purola. Soil erosion and debris entered some houses and shops. As soon as the information about the incident was received, the administrative team and SDRF personnel immediately reached the spot late night and took the affected people to safe places. There was no loss of life in these incidents.
Deputy District Magistrate Purola Devanand Sharma and Deputy Collector Barkot Jitendra Kumar reached the spot along with the police-administration and SDRF team.
Yamunotri Dham yatra stopped
At present Yamunotri Dham Yatra has been stopped for 1 day and Yamunotri Yatris have been kept at safe places. Passengers going to Yamunotri have been stopped at Barkot. SDRF, fire brigade and police personnel are deployed along with the administration in the disaster areas.
According to the Uttarkashi administration, a large number of commuters, including tourists, were stranded in the district on Saturday as the Yamunotri National Highway was blocked at several places due to falling debris near Gangnani.
Uttarkashi Disaster Management officials said that due to heavy rains near Gangnani in Barkot area, a lot of debris and stones have come on the Yamunotri National Highway.
Relief work is going on.
(Inputs from Inder Singh Bisht)
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