A year later: 27 die in U’khand as rains wreak havoc
18 Aug 2014 5:19 AM IST
Disaster management officials issued warnings of more rains on Saturday.
Seven people, including four of a family, were killed after heavy rains triggered a landslide in Dehradun’s Rajpur area, flattening homes built along the slopes of a hillock early on Saturday.
Another 14 were killed by cloudbursts at four places in Pauri district on Friday. Yamkeswar and Lansdowne tehsils reported the remaining deaths.
At several places, rescue teams were helping clear debris or evacuate stranded people. In Dehradun’s landslide-hit Rajpur area, a woman was pulled out alive by rescue workers from under a mound of debris.
‘All efforts are being made to mitigate the impact of disasters across the state. We are in touch with district administrations and rescue operations are in progress in every disaster affected area,’ said Bhaskaranand Joshi, secretary state department of disaster management. ‘Victims and their dependents will be compensated as (per) government norms. The government is assessing the total loss occurred due to disaster in this monsoon’.
Incessant rains and landslides at various places on the Mussoorie-Dehradun road have disrupted traffic. Reports said eight houses were completely damaged and another eight were partially damaged due to heavy landslides in the Chiffon Kot area of Mussoorie on Saturday. This monsoon, 57 people have died in Uttarakhand since 1 June.
Although roads to Chardham — Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri, Hemkunt Saheb and Yamonotri—shrines in Uttarakhand have been badly damaged and blocked at several places, the state government is not in favour of suspending the pilgrimage. All the four national highways leading to the holy shrines are badly damaged and blocked at several places by massive landslides, officials said.
‘Government cannot suspend pilgrimage. The debris cleaning work is on and it will be cleared subsequently,’ said State disaster management secretary Bhaskaranand Joshi. ‘We are in touch with local administration and concerned district magistrates’.
Meanwhile, president Pranab Mukherjee and prime minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the deaths caused by heavy rain in Uttarakhand. In a message to Uttarakhand governor Aziz Qureshi, the president said: ‘I am deeply saddened to learn about the heavy rains leading to landslides in certain areas of Uttarakhand, which have caused loss of lives, injuries and damage to property. I understand rescue and relief operations are currently underway.’
Seven people, including four of a family, were killed after heavy rains triggered a landslide in Dehradun’s Rajpur area, flattening homes built along the slopes of a hillock early on Saturday.
Another 14 were killed by cloudbursts at four places in Pauri district on Friday. Yamkeswar and Lansdowne tehsils reported the remaining deaths.
At several places, rescue teams were helping clear debris or evacuate stranded people. In Dehradun’s landslide-hit Rajpur area, a woman was pulled out alive by rescue workers from under a mound of debris.
‘All efforts are being made to mitigate the impact of disasters across the state. We are in touch with district administrations and rescue operations are in progress in every disaster affected area,’ said Bhaskaranand Joshi, secretary state department of disaster management. ‘Victims and their dependents will be compensated as (per) government norms. The government is assessing the total loss occurred due to disaster in this monsoon’.
Incessant rains and landslides at various places on the Mussoorie-Dehradun road have disrupted traffic. Reports said eight houses were completely damaged and another eight were partially damaged due to heavy landslides in the Chiffon Kot area of Mussoorie on Saturday. This monsoon, 57 people have died in Uttarakhand since 1 June.
Although roads to Chardham — Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri, Hemkunt Saheb and Yamonotri—shrines in Uttarakhand have been badly damaged and blocked at several places, the state government is not in favour of suspending the pilgrimage. All the four national highways leading to the holy shrines are badly damaged and blocked at several places by massive landslides, officials said.
‘Government cannot suspend pilgrimage. The debris cleaning work is on and it will be cleared subsequently,’ said State disaster management secretary Bhaskaranand Joshi. ‘We are in touch with local administration and concerned district magistrates’.
Meanwhile, president Pranab Mukherjee and prime minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the deaths caused by heavy rain in Uttarakhand. In a message to Uttarakhand governor Aziz Qureshi, the president said: ‘I am deeply saddened to learn about the heavy rains leading to landslides in certain areas of Uttarakhand, which have caused loss of lives, injuries and damage to property. I understand rescue and relief operations are currently underway.’
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