At least 15 people have died and 16 are missing after a cloudburst triggered landslides and caused rivers to swell in Dehradun and nearby districts of Uttarakhand early on Tuesday.
The Disaster Management Authority said 13 bodies were retrieved in Dehradun on Tuesday and one each in Pithoragarh and Nainital.
In Dehradun, the areas worst-affected by the cloudburst were Maldevta, Sahastradhara, Manjayada, and Karligad.
Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said that while 12 bodies were identified in Dehradun, one remained unknown. Of the 12 identified, seven were from Moradabad, one each from Sambhal, Nepal, and Ludhiana, and two from Dehradun.
“The floods happened due to a cloudburst at Sahastradhara at night, and we have found that 264 mm of rainfall was recorded in Sahastradhara over the last 24 hours (until 8.30 am Tuesday),” Suman said.
A cloudburst is categorised as a rare weather event of localised rainfall in which 100 mm of rain falls over a defined area in the span of an hour. Nainital received 105 mm of rainfall till 8.30 am on Tuesday.
Dehradun witnessed distressing incidents on Tuesday, with visuals showing a tractor losing control and getting swept away into the Tons River, with around 15 people on board in Premnagar. Five of the bodies have been recovered by the State Disaster Response Force, and three by the district police. Two of the 15 have been rescued. While the rescue operations were underway, the authorities managed to find the body of a child who had drowned earlier. To locate the missing persons, the SDRF team carried out searches along the entire stretch of the river, from Sahaspur to Herbertpur Dharamwala bridge.
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SDRF Commandant Arpan Yaduvanshi said that around 70 people were rescued from near the spot where the cloudburst took place. “Three of the villagers have been trapped in the debris, and we are trying to rescue them. Moreover, we have rescued 250 students who were stranded at a university in Premnagar,” he said.
Widespread damage
Meanwhile, the damage due to the day’s floods in Dehradun is estimated to run into over Rs 10 crore. Around 13 bridges have been impacted, with the damage estimated to cost Rs 1.5 crore; 12 agricultural fields were damaged, leading to a revenue loss of Rs 2.3 crore; the damage on 21 roads is estimated at Rs 1.2 crore; and embankments worth Rs 1.7 crore were also damaged.
The damage to infrastructure disrupted normal life. Some houses, an anganwadi centre, a panchayat building, a community centre, 13 shops, eight hotels, and three restaurants also suffered damage. The Sahastradhara–Karligad road was damaged at more than nine points due to landslides.
Dehradun District Magistrate Savin Bansal has announced a compensation of Rs 4,000 per family per month for three months for affected people to move to safer rental accommodation.
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The DM directed the Public Works Department and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana programme to deploy sufficient manpower and machinery to reopen blocked roads and link routes at the earliest. Dry rations and food packets have been made available to those staying in relief camps.
