5 dead as cloudburst triggers landslides
At least five people were killed after seven houses were hit by debris and muck from a landslide triggered by a cloudburst in Jumma village, in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, in the wee hours of Monday, officials familiar with the development said. A search using a sniffer dog for two persons who are feared buried under the debris was halted on Monday evening and will resume on Tuesday, Pithoragarh district magistrate Ashish Chauhan said. Two of the four injured villagers were airlifted through a chopper and rushed to a hospital in Dharchula, the officials said. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami directed authorities to shift the affected residents to safer areas. The district, which has received 1,170 mm rain since June 1, has been witnessing heavy rainfall for the past few days.
At least five people were killed after seven houses were hit by debris and muck from a landslide triggered by a cloudburst in Jumma village, in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, in the wee hours of Monday, officials said.
A search using a sniffer dog is underway for two persons who are feared buried under the debris, the officials added.
“The disaster occurred in Jamuni and Siroudiyar hamlets (Tok) in Jumma village of Dharchula area when debris and muck damaged seven houses. So far, five bodies -- three teenage girls and two women-- have been recovered. A search is on for other two missing persons,” Pithoragarh district magistrate (DM) Ashish Chauhan said.
The affected village is around 125 km from the district headquarters. The search operation was halted at around 7.30 pm and will resume on Tuesday morning.
District disaster management officer Bhupender Singh Mahar said the deceased were identified as Kumari Sanjana (15), Kumari Renu (11), Kumari Shivani (9), Sunita Singh (22) and Parvati Devi, whose age is yet to ascertained. The two missing are Chander Singh and his wife Hajari Devi, he added.
Two of the four injured villagers were airlifted through a chopper and rushed to a hospital in Dharchula, the officials cited above said.
On receiving information about the disaster on Monday morning, several teams of police, revenue, state disaster response force (SDRF) and national disaster response force (NDRF) rushed to the area to hold rescue operations. Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) personnel were the first ones to reach the site to begin rescue operations.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami spoke to the Pithoragarh DM on phone and Kumaon commissioner Sushil Kumar via video conferencing, and directed them to shift the affected residents to safer areas and make arrangements for essential food supplies and medicines.
The chief minister is expected to visit the area once the weather improves.
Meanwhile, two children were trapped after their house in Kotda village in Dehradun’s Vikas Nagar area collapsed on Monday. Only one child was rescued till the time of filing this report.