Uttarakhand: 2 killed, 6 missing, 5 rescued alive after landslides, flooding hit Chamoli villages

Two people were killed, five rescued alive and six feared trapped under debris as landslides and flooding triggered by heavy rain flattened more than 40 houses in four villages of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Thursday.

Four people were rescued alive in Kuntari Lagaphali and one in Dhurma village, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) in Dehradun said.

Twelve people were injured, including the ones rescued alive, of whom those with serious injuries were airlifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rishikesh, officials said.

Two bodies, one each from Kuntari Lagaphali and Kuntari Lagasarpani villages were found, while the search for six people continued through the mounds of debris lying in the rain-ravaged villages in the Nandanagar area, the SEOC said.

The bodies were identified as those of Narendra Singh (38) and Jagdamba Prasad (70), it added.

Four people, including two women and a child, were rescued alive in Kuntari Laga Phali and one in Dhurma, the SEOC said.

Of the six people still missing, four are from Kuntari Lagaphali and one each is from Kuntari Lagasarpani and Dhurma, it said.

All four affected villages come under the Nandanagar area, about 260 km from Dehradun and 50 km from the Chamoli district headquarters at Gopeshwar. Nandanagar is already reeling from land subsidence. Cracks appearing on the walls of houses in the area due to subsidence had led to the evacuation of a large number of people to safe places last month.

The four villages of Chamoli hit by the Thursday morning landslides and flooding were Kuntari Lagaphali, Kuntari Lagasarpani, Sera and Dhurma, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami told reporters after reviewing the situation.

Nearly 45 houses and 15 cowsheds were damaged due to landslides and flooding in these villages, affecting more than 200 people.

Around 150 to 200 villagers in Kuntari Lagaphali have been moved to safe places, the SEOC said, adding that search-and-rescue operations are being conducted by the NDRF, SDRF, ITBP, police and fire brigade personnel in the villages under the supervision of the district magistrate and superintendent of police.

Those seriously injured, including a child who sustained head injuries, were airlifted to the AIIMS in Rishikesh, Dhami said.

The chief minister took stock of the situation in Nandanagar by speaking to Chamoli District Magistrate (DM) Sandeep Tiwari via video-conferencing and asked him to accelerate the relief-and-rescue operations.

He directed officials to ensure immediate restoration of roads, drinking water supply, electricity and network connectivity in the areas affected by rain. Adequate arrangements should be made for shelter, food, clean drinking water and other essential amenities for the disaster-hit people, Dhami said.

Doctors and medicines should be made available in the affected areas to ensure prompt medical assistance, he said.

In the Mokh valley area, heavy rain triggered flooding in the Moksha river, causing erosion in it from Dhurma to Sera, damaging dozens of buildings, including at least six houses, according to officials.

Rescue teams took time to reach the affected areas as the access road to Nandanagar was blocked by debris, Nandan Singh, an official involved in the relief-and-rescue operations, said.

Torrents of mud and boulders rolled down from the hills at three locations in Kuntari Lagaphali, destroying everything on their way, he added.

When the landslide hit the houses, some of the people inside managed to escape, Singh said, adding that they sustained injuries.

Land subsidence hit parts of Nandanagar in August, with cracks appearing in the walls of many houses.

The landslides hit two days after heavy rain and cloudbursts in Dehradun and nearby areas breached several roads, washed away bridges and damaged houses, killing 21 people and leaving 17 missing.