Dehradun : Heavy rains in Uttarakhand in the wee hours on Friday left 17 persons dead in separate incidents of cloudburst, house collapse and landlslips in Pauri, Dehradun and Pithoragarh districts.
The heavy rains, which are still continuing in most parts of the state, including the state capital, also breached several roads cutting off nearly 250 residents of a village in Pauri district from the rest of the state.
14 casualties occurred in Pauri, two persons died in a landslip in Kishanpur area on the outskirts of Dehradun and one drowned in an overflowing rain-fed stream in Pithoragarh district. Out of the 14 casualties reported from Pauri, 12 died in separate incidents of house collapse and landslips in Yamkeshwar block and the remaining two in Kaljikhal and Dwarikhal blocks, ADM Pauri B S Chalal told PTI. Eight persons died after being hit by debris falling from the hillside in the wake of landslips, five were buried alive as their houses collapsed over them and one drowned in Bhim river while trying to save his livestock, he said.
About 250 people of Purala Bairagarh village of the district are stranded as all approach roads leading to the village have been breached, Chalal said adding the heavy downpour which started late on Thursday night still continue.
The district administration has requested authorities in Dehradun to send choppers to airlift stranded villagers of Purala Bairagarh, he said. However, the villagers have vacated their houses and moved into the forests in the higher reaches of Yamkeshwar block for safety, the official said.
The state government has agreed to send choppers to airlift the villagers but they have not been able to take off from Dehradun due to bad weather, he said.
Rescue teams have reached the affected areas in Pauri district after initial problem due to breached roads and the operations are still continuing, Chalal said.
The Ganga is flowing just half a metre down the danger mark at 340 metres at Ram Jhula in Rishikesh.
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