Cloudburst in Uttarkashi: The cloudburst incident in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi wreaked havoc as the houses, roads were damaged, compelling the residents to be shifted to safer places.
The Yamunotri National Highway was blocked at various places on Saturday due to fallen debris near Gangnani. The situation worsened after the region received heavy rainfall after the cloudburst incident causing trouble to the residents and animals.
According to the locals, the cloudburst occurred in the early hours of Saturday at around 2 am. They said that the place where they slept was completely washed away in the rain.
The incident caused heavy damage to properties, washing away two colleges, and nearly five hotels. Five laborers somehow saved their lives after a wall was broken by rainwater and debris in Rajtar town. Nirvana Tourist Cottages have been damaged and debris has also entered the campus of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Residential School at Gangnani under Barkot tehsil due to late night cloudburst.
Landslide also occurred in Chhara section
Besides this, a landslide also occurred in the Chhara block of Purola due to a cloud burst. 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 at night and shifted the affected people to safer places. No loss of lives was reported in these incidents.
Deputy District Magistrate Purola Devanand Sharma and Deputy Collector Barkot Jitendra Kumar reached the spot along with police and administration and SDRF teams.
Yamunotri Dham yatra stopped
At present, Yamunotri Dham yatra has been stopped for 1 day, and Yamunotri pilgrims are made to stay in safe places. The passengers going to Yamunotri have been halted at Barkot. SDRF, fire brigade, and police personnel, along with administration are deployed at the disaster areas.
According to the Uttarkashi administration, a large number of commuters, including tourists, were stranded in the district after the Yamunotri National Highway was blocked at many places on Saturday due to falling debris near Gangnani.
The Uttarkashi disaster management officials said that there has been a lot of debris and stones on the Yamunotri National Highway due to heavy rains near Gangnani in the Barkot area.
Relief operations are underway.
(Inputs from Inder Singh Bisht)
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