Uttarkashi Cloudburst: One more body was retrieved in flood-hit Dharali on Wednesday as rescue operations resumed on a rain-drenched morning. Earlier, four people were confirmed killed in the disaster that struck the ecologically fragile area following a cloudburst in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi on Tuesday afternoon. At least half of Dharali was buried under the fast flowing mudslide of slush, rubble and water. About 150 people have been rescued from Uttarkashi, even as 11 army personnel from the nearby camp in Harsil were among those missing.
Uttarkashi Cloudburst Updates
-Landslides blocked arterial roads leading up to Dharali where dozens of people were trapped and many homes and cars swept away by the raging waters on Tuesday.
-According to Mohsen Shahedi, NDRF deputy inspector general (DIG) operations, three teams of the federal contingency force are enroute to Dharali but have been unable to get there because continuous landslides have blocked the Rishikesh -Uttarkashi highway.
-Teams of the Army, ITBP and state SDRF are undertaking rescue operations in the affected area and about 150 people have been rescued.
-The Indian Army has kept its MI-17 and Chinook helicopters on standby to look for the stranded. They will take off only after the weather clears.
-As rescuers struggled to get to Dharali, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to get an update on the situation and assured him of the Centre’s assistance.
-Dhami held a meeting with officials at the State Emergency Operation Centre here to review the rescue efforts. He surveyed the flooded area in Dharali and Harsil from a helicopter.
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-Dhami said arrangements have been made for medicines and food, and 160 police personnel have been deployed to oversee the disbursement of rations. Three nodal officers have been appointed from the CM’s office.
-Major rivers like the Mandakini in Rudraprayag, the Banganga in Haridwar and the Bhagirathi in Devprayag are flowing above the danger mark, the Central Water Commission said in a bulletin.
(With Agency Inputs)