Chamoli: Heavy rainfall and landslides caused death of seven and several others went missing as per speculations following heavy downpour and landslides in Uttarakhand, police said on Friday.
Officials said, landslides at several places across the hilly state and a cloud burst in Pithoragarh inundating the entire region, was the result of continuous rains since Thursday night.
Large tracts of agriculture fields were destroyed in Suva village in Pithoragarh’s Dharchula area and three bridges linking it to the rest of the district have been washed away.
Five people are feared dead in Pithoragarh district while two have been killed in Chamoli district. Rescue teams recovered the bodies of two men from Suru village in Chamoli.
“Three members of a family are feared dead in a landslide in a village Nachni. Officials have rushed to the spot,” officials at Pithoragarh police control room said.
Two others are trapped in a landslide near Thal in Pithoragarh, they said.
The communication network has been severely damaged at several places. The Char Dham yatra route has also been affected due to landslide at several spots.
The Thal-Munsyari road has been cut-off and dozens of vehicles remained stranded on both sides. The Yamunotri highway, near Kharadi, has also been damaged leading to traffic being halted.
Entry of heavy vehicles was halted on the Kedarnath highway after a landslide at Gangolgaon. All major rivers in the hilly tracts have also swollen after over 54 mm rainfall was recorded in the state in the last 24-hours.
Thereby, The Indian Meteorological department has issued a warning of heavy rainfall in the isolated areas in Uttarakhand, especially in Nainital, Udhamsingh Nagar and Champawat districts over the next 72 hours.