Heavy rains and flash floods that followed have caused a fatal wave of damage across Uttarakhand, killing at least 15 people on Tuesday. The calamity hit the state capital, Dehradun, the hardest, killing 13 people and leaving 16 more missing. This led officials to call in all emergency response teams.
The constant rain caused a lot of damage to roads and other facilities. The important Dehradun–Mussoorie road was badly damaged, and landslides closed all key routes from Mussoorie to the state capital, such as the Jharipani, Chunakhala, and Kimadi roads. This has left about 3,000 tourists stuck in Mussoorie.
Nainital and Pithoragarh were the other two places in the state where people died.
Dehradun disaster management officials say that Sahastradhara, Maldevta, and Premnagar were the worst-hit localities in the district. The district disaster management officer, Rishabh Kumar, confirmed the number of deaths and stated that rescue and relief activities are still going on, so the numbers “may change.” He also said that the damage included “Thirteen bridges, 10 culverts, two houses, and 21 roads” that were badly damaged.
Specific Events and Rescue Efforts
The sad cost in Dehradun is:
Premnagar: Eight workers died and four were missing after the Tons river rose and swept them away.
Sahastradhara: A suspected cloudburst in the village of Karligarh threw debris into 23 homes and numerous resorts, and six persons are still missing. At least 400 people were saved by officials.
Two individuals died when a house fell down in Jharipani.
Rajpur Road: The floodwaters rose and took two persons away.
The Tons river inundated the Tapkeshwar Mahadev Temple, and one person was swept away.
In a big rescue effort, first responders got 400 to 500 students out of the Devbhoomi Institute campus in the Poundha region, which had been flooded. Vinod Kumar Suman, Uttarakhand’s secretary for disaster management, said that some 900 people had been evacuated and that relief and rescue efforts were still going on at a war footing.
Weather Report and Political Reaction
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has put out a yellow advisory for the next four days, saying that some areas would get “light to moderate rain/thundershower.” Weather experts say that the current rain is caused by a “violent interaction” between dry westerlies and easterlies that are full of moisture.
Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, went to the devastated areas to see for himself and promised that rescue personnel were trying to bring things back to normal. Dhami also talked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who vowed to help from the center.
The local hotel association said that its members would give the trapped travelers free places to stay until the roads are clear. A Bailey bridge is being sent quickly from Rishikesh to replace a section that fell down near the well-known Shiv Mandir. This will assist restore communication.
The disaster also had an effect on states nearby. Three members of a family died in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, because of landslides and flash floods. Several landslides have blocked a major national highway in Manipur, and some areas of the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Science hospital in Imphal have been submerged.