A cloudburst in Uttarakhand’s Singhali area brought over 100 mm rains in two hours.
At least 30 people have been confirmed to be dead and more than 40 are reportedly injured in Uttarakhands's Pithoragarh and Chamoli districts after heavy rainfall battering the state since Thursday triggered landslides. The casualties may mount during the day as Pithoragarh district authorities along with National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force are still engaged in recovering those trapped in their homes. According to sources, around 15 families have been trapped after a landslide.
According to officials from the District Mitigation and Management Center, in Pithoragarh, eight people were killed due to landslides while in Chamoli, five people have died. The incessant rains have halted movement on the Thal-Munsyari road and the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway while in Chamoli, the Alaknanda river has crossed its danger mark.
The cloudburst in Singhali area of Pithorgarh district early this morning brought over 100 mm rains in two hours in a region of 50 sq km, flattening homes in over seven villages, according to officials. According to disaster management office sources, the cloudburst occurred in the villages of Singhali, Patthakot, Ogla and Thal villages.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who is is Delhi, expressed grief at the loss of lives and announced a compensation of Rs two lakh each to the families of the victims.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow code warning for Friday and an orange code warning for Saturday, indicating an alert. It has forecasted that “heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at isolated places”. As per the Met department's benchmarks, this means that there will rainfall in the range of 60mm-120mm. The alert has been issued for the districts of Nainital, Udhamsingh Nagar, Champawat, Almora, Dehdraun, Uttarkashi, Pauri, Haridwar and Tehri districts for the next 72 hours.
“Monsoon arrived in the state on June 20 and now it has picked up pace. Currently, a strong monsoon trough coupled a western disturbance, that is centred over Pakistan, has caused the heavy rainfall across the state,” said MM Saklani, assistant meteorologist, IMD, Uttarakhand.
(With Agency Inputs)
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