A day after cloudbursts and floods that killed more than 17 people in Dehradun, nearly 14 people went missing due to heavy rain and debris flow in Nandnagar Tehsil of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand early Thursday.
Sharing the information, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, “At least 14 persons were missing and 20 were seriously injured due to a cloudburst resulting in massive sliding of debris in the wee hours on Thursday owing to overnight heavy rainfall. Nearly 33 houses were completely destroyed due to heavy rains, along with many cattle sheds and shops. Apart from this, more than 200 affected people were evacuated to safer locations in the Chamoli disaster.”
The CM stated that the injured were shifted to nearby hospitals for medical aid,, while the seriously injured were being airlifted to the AIIMS Rishikesh.
Chief Minister Dhami stated that although heavy rainfall and landslides at several places delayed the arrival of rescue teams, all efforts were being made to provide relief to the disaster victims. The NDRF and SDRF teams were trekking to reach the site.
“Heavy rains leading to cloudbursts have inflicted significant damage due to the subsequent flow of huge debris in Kuntari Lagafali, Kuntari Lagasarpani, and Dhurma villages of Nandnagar tehsil in Chamoli district. Incidents occurred at around 3:00 AM,” said State Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman.
He stated that so far, teams of local police, District Disaster Management, and Revenue Departments have successfully rescued three people (two women and a child) who were trapped under the debris. The injured were admitted to Nandnagar Community Health Centre for treatment.
Suman said that teams of the SDRF, NDRF, and the eighth battalion of ITBP at Gauchar were immediately dispatched to the disaster site to launch rescue operation.