Rivers in spate due to heavy rains, Kedarnath Yatra stopped, 14 people dead so far

Apart from Delhi-NCR, rain has caused many problems in the mountains as well. 14 people have died so far due to heavy rains in Uttarakhand on Thursday, including three people from the same family. Due to the continuous rain, flood-like situation has arisen in many areas of this hill state.

Fourteen people were killed and over 10 injured in Uttarakhand due to heavy overnight rains and several rivers overflowing, officials said on Thursday. Keeping in mind the safety of pilgrims going on the Kedarnath Yatra, authorities have decided to suspend the pilgrimage for the time being due to landslides at several places. The trek route is blocked due to boulders at Ghodapadhav, Lincholi, Badi Lincholi and Bhimbali, officials said.

According to information received from the State Emergency Operations Center here, a child was swept away in a flooded drain in Haldwani, Nainital. It said that a search is on for him. Due to heavy rains on Wednesday night, a part of the road at Bhimbali on the Gaurikund-Kedarnath trek route was washed away and large stones fell from the hill and blocked the road. According to the police, so far 425 pilgrims have been brought safely by helicopters from Lincholi and Bhimbali, while 1,100 pilgrims have reached Sonprayag on foot from various places with the help of rescue teams.

Officials said 14 people have died in rain-related incidents since Wednesday evening – four in Dehradun, six in Haridwar, three in Tehri and one in Chamoli. Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Singh said two people drowned in a canal in Raipur area on Wednesday night. He said the bodies have been recovered. The victims were identified as Sundar Singh and Arjun Singh Rana. In another incident in Dehradun, two people were swept away while bathing in a river near Sahasradhara parking on Thursday.

On receiving the information, the SDRF team reached the spot but by then the local people had recovered one body. The SDRF later recovered the second body from the river. The deceased were residents of Sultanpuri, Delhi, who have been identified as Indrapal (40) and Bhupendra Singh Rana (43). A house collapsed due to heavy rains in Bharpur village of Roorkee area of ​​​​Haridwar district, killing four people and injuring 10 others. The condition of eight of them is said to be critical.

In another incident, two persons were electrocuted at Roorkee bus stand around 11.30 pm on Wednesday. Three members of a family – Bhanu Prasad (50), his wife Neelam Devi (45) and son Vipin (28) – were killed in a landslide following a cloudburst in Jakhanyali village in Ghansali area of ​​Tehri district, damaging their roadside restaurant.

Tehri District Disaster Management Officer Brijesh Bhatt said that Vipin was rescued, but he died while being taken to AIIMS. A woman died on Wednesday after debris fell from a hill on a house in Kunkhet village of Gairsain tehsil of Chamoli district. A seven-year-old child was swept away in a flooded drain in Haldwani of Nainital district. Police and SDRF are searching for him. According to information received from the Meteorological Department, since Wednesday, 172 mm of rain was recorded in Dehradun, 210 mm in Roshanabad of Haridwar, 163 mm in Raiwala, 140 mm in Haldwani, 112 mm in Roorkee, 107 mm in Narendra Nagar, 98 mm in Dhanolti, 92 mm in Chakrata and 89 mm in Nainital.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has asked the officials to remain alert. In a post on social media, Dhami said that due to heavy rains in the state on Wednesday night, life has been reported to be affected at many places and rescue teams conducted operations overnight and evacuated people to a safe place. Dhami reached the State Emergency Operations Center here and reviewed the rain situation and directed Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman to maintain coordination with the District Magistrates.

Meanwhile, an advisory has been issued for Kedarnath-bound pilgrims who have reached Rudraprayag, asking them to wait till they are officially informed about improvement in the weather and restoration of blocked and broken roads.

Both the Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers are flowing close to the danger mark in Rudraprayag district.