Cloudburst triggers incessant rains in Uttarakhand; 30 dead, NDRF teams dispatched

Pic Courtesy: ANI

Dehradun: At least 30 people have died and many houses were damaged after heavy rains triggered by a cloudburst lashed hilly areas of Uttarakhand on Friday.

According to reports, Pithoragarh and Chamoli districts were inundated after the cloudburst, causing severe problems to the people.

Large tracts of agriculture fields have been destroyed in Suva village of the Dharchula area and three bridges linking the village have been washed away.

NDRF teams have been rushed to the areas affected by cloudburst in Uttarakhand and additional teams have been asked to stay alert, said Home Minister Rajnath Singh

Over 54 mm rain was recorded here in the last 24-hours. The Thal-Munsyari road has been cut-off and dozens of vehicles remained stranded on both sides.

The Yamunotri highway, near Kharadi, has also been damaged leading to traffic being halted.

Entry of heavy vehicles was halted on the Kedarnath highway after a landslide at Gangolgaon.

All major rivers in the hilly tracts have swollen.

Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rain at isolated places especially in Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar and Champawat districts of Uttarakhand.

The weather department has also issued a warning alert of heavy to very heavy rain at few places in Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat, Almora, Pauri, Haridwar, Dehradun and Tehri districts during the next 72 hours starting from today.

Keeping in view of the alert, all District Administrations have been asked to take precautionary measures.

Director of the state Met. Department Vikram Singh has said that a low pressure line between the Bay of Bengal and Punjab is triggering the rains and the western disturbance is also moving and it will approach Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir in the next two to three days.

With Agency inputs