Uttarakhand rains: Toll reaches 16

As many as 21 persons were still missing

Assam Regiment troops rescuing villagers in Pithoragarh. Photo: Defence PRO

Four bodies buried under the debris in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh were recovered as the rescue operations continued on Saturday, taking the death toll due to heavy rains across Uttarakhand in the past two days to 16 with 21 persons still missing.

On Friday heavy rains had triggered landslides and flash floods in Pithoragarh and Chamoli districts killing several people.

In Pithoragarh, by Saturday evening 12 bodies had been recovered, while 15 persons remained missing. Of the 13 persons who were injured, three are critical, a report of the State disaster management department said.

Three bodies were recovered in Chamoli on Friday and six persons were reported missing. None of the missing persons could be found by the rescue teams on Saturday.

In Nainital district too, one person was swept away in a river as water level rose due to incessant rains.

“Two days into the deluge, the chances of survival of the 21 missing persons are bleak,” Additional Secretary (Disaster Management) C. Ravishankar said adding that it was not known whether the missing persons were buried under the debris from damaged houses, or they had been washed away in the flash floods.

However, Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the Army, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), State disaster management department, the local administration, the police, and teams of the revenue department continued the relief and rescue operations in the disaster-affected areas in Pithoragarh and Chamoli on Saturday too.

The administration used government school buildings as a temporary shelter for affected families. However, roads (rural and urban) remained blocked at several places. Electricity and drinking water supply too was affected.

While rains continued to lash Uttrakhand on Saturday too, the water level of the Ganga reached 292 metres, which was just one metre below the danger mark.

The Dehradun Meterological Departement issued a warning for 48 hours starting Saturday morning which stated that “heavy to very heavy rainfall” could occur at few places across the State while “extremely heavy rainfall” could occur at isolated places in Nainital, Champawat, Usham Singh Nagar, Almora, Pauri, Haridwar, Tehri and Dehradun districts.