Express News Service
DEHRADUN: At least 50 houses were damaged in a cloudburst in Okhladunga area of Uttarakhand’s Nainital district. The administration has shifted the affected families to safer places.
Nainital District Disaster Management Officer Shailesh Kumar told The New Indian Express, “Due to heavy rains, debris and water have entered the fields and houses of the villagers, fortunately there has been no loss of life and property”.
The villagers who have been temporarily shifted to relief camps have been provided with food and all the necessary facilities by the administration.
Taking cognizance of the cloudburst incident in Okhaldhunga, district in-charge and Cabinet minister Rekha Arya immediately directed District Magistrate Nainital Vandana to take necessary action. Minister Arya also directed the DM to provide assistance along with disaster relief and rescue work at the earliest.
In another incident, one of the eight occupants of an SUV was killed and seven others were rescued by police and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) after they were swept away in a drain at Dhikuli in Ramnagar area.
According to police sources, “Due to the strong flow of water from the Corbett forest area, a rivulet in Dhikuli overflowed and a SUV coming from Delhi was washed away. Around 2.30 am, the family of local resident Yogesh Chimwal, along with people from the vicinity, somehow managed to pull out the occupants of the SUV vehicle.
During this time two people were swept away with the vehicle. Later, fire brigade personnel reached the spot and pulled both of them out of the vehicle. All of them were admitted to the government hospital in Ramnagar, where a young man named Prakash Chandra Phulara was referred to the Higher Center as his condition was serious, who died on the way.
In Chamoli district, two labourers were washed away in the Alaknanda river after the structure of the bridge collapsed at Badrinath Dham during the construction of an alternative bridge under the master plan. One worker was rescued, but the other worker is missing.SDRF team has reached the spot.
Chamoli Superintendent of Police Pramendra Dobhal told this newspaper, “The search for the missing laborer is going on. The bridge construction work was being carried out under the master plan by the PIU Public Works Department near Brahma Kapal when the accident took place”.
State Meteorological Centre Director Dr Bikram Singh told this newspaper, “The weather pattern in the state will remain the same till August 5, in view of which a yellow alert of rain has been issued again in the state”.