2 killed in landslide as rains lash Uttarakhand

Dehradun: Intermittent rains continued to lash various parts of Uttarakhand today, triggering landslide that left two persons dead, and sweeping away vast stretch of land.

The state, still trying to overcome the rain havoc of June that killed scores of people, received continuous rainfall during past 24 hours. An elderly woman and her granddaughter died on the spot when debris of landslide fell on their house in Kot village of Tehri district, SDM Jagdish Lal said. In another incident near Chinyalisaur in Uttarkashi district, a large chunk of land was washed away in a cloudburst last night. Uttarkashi received maximum 72 mm of rainfall since last night, whereas Chamoli and Rudraprayag got 60 mm of showers, the MeT department said. No improvement in the weather is likely in the next 24 hours and according to a MeT forecast, with 40 to 60 mm of rainfall is likely to occur at most places in the state. Most of the rivers in the state, including Mandakini, Alaknanda, Bhagirathi, Pindar and Ganga, are in spate following continuous rainfall over past few days. Meanwhile, efforts to trace Almora SDM Ajay Arora, who had fallen in the Mandakini river on July 31 after slipping from a makeshift bridge, failed to bear any fruit today also. "We are yet to find clue to the SDM`s whereabouts. PAC divers are still on the job scouring the Mandakini to trace him but to no avail," Rudraprayag Disaster Management Officer Meera Kaintura said. PTI