Uttarakhand cloudburst toll: Bridge, 28 goats

PITHORAGARH/DEHRADUN: A bridge was washed away, some houses damaged and 28 goats likely drowned in a swollen rivulet following an overnight cloudburst in Bangapani sub-division of Pithoragarh district, officials said Thursday.

Around 20 families from the area have been shifted to safer locations. Rescue teams have been have been deputed at Baram village and the debris are being searched to ascertain if there was any loss of life.

“Indo-Tibetan Border Police and disaster response team is searching debris in case anyone is trapped there. So far there is no information of any human loss,”

AROUND 20 FAMILIES FROM THE AREA HAVE BEEN SHIFTED TO SAFER LOCATIONS

said RK Pandey, sub-divisional magistrate, Bangapani.

According to the eye witnesses, the bridge connecting Pithoragarh to Munsiari was washed away after the water level in local rivulet Gosi rose sharply due to the heavy rains following the cloudburst. “We have also shifted 10 families of Kanar village. Water from the swollen rivulet has entered their houses,” said the Bangapani sub-divisional magistrate.

Rains continued to wreak havoc in many other parts of Uttarakhand and landslides have been reported from several places. The Badrinath highway was blocked near Lambagad for over two hours and traffic was blocked at Tanakpur national highway in Pithoragarh for several hours.

More than 100 link roads continue to be in shambles, with vast regions in the hill tracts remaining cut off. More than 20 metres of the highway at Pinola between Joshimath and Govindghat was washed away in the rains, affecting the Hemkund Sahib and Badrinath annual pilgrimage.

Rescue teams have been rushed from Munsyari and Dharchula. The district officials said that the exact extent of damage was unknown yet as the region where the cloudburst took place in an interior place.