Two bodies have been recovered while about two dozen persons are missing following devastation caused by heavy rain and cloudburst in the wee hours of Sunday in Uttarkashi district. The disaster has directly affected about half a dozen villages while power supply has been disrupted to at least 38 villages in the Mori Tehsil of Uttarkashi district.
According to information provided by the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), heavy rain/cloudburst at 4 AM caused considerable damage in various villages in Mori Tehsil. In Makudi village, a woman’s body has been recovered while about seven to eight persons are reported missing. About a dozen homes have been destroyed in this village. In the Sanel village, one body has been recovered while about five persons are missing. Reports were also received about a dozen people missing in Arakot village while five buildings including one school building were damaged in Tikochi village. Teams of Health department and Red Cross have left from Uttarkashi for the disaster affected areas. Makudi, Arakot, Molda, Sanel, Tikochi and Dwichanu villages have been affected by the heavy rain/cloudburst. At least two bridges have been damaged in the area while the Tyuni-Arakot national highway was blocked by debris in two to three places. The power supply has been disrupted in about 38 villages around Arakot. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), district administration, local police and various departmental teams are conducting search, rescue and relief works in the affected areas.
Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has directed the Uttarkashi district magistrate and Disaster Management secretary to ensure that people in the affected areas to shifted to secure locations and provided relief materials at the earliest. The Uttarkashi district magistrate has been ordered to ensure relief and assistance at war footing to the affected families. Shelter, food, drinking water and medical facilities should be provided to the affected, directed Rawat. The Uttarkashi chief medical officer and veterinary officer have also been directed to ensure that the people are provided necessary medicines and other medical services.
During the evening in Dehradun, the disaster management secretary Amit Singh Negi directed officials to ensure the affected people are swiftly shifted to secure locations and provided with relief materials. A rescue and relief team should be deployed in each affected village, he directed. Checking the rescue work arrangements for the affected areas at the SEOC, Negi directed that tents, gas cylinders, utensils and other items should also be provided to the affected families along with food items, drinking water, life support medicines and other important medical facilities.
