Cloudbursts, landslides ravage Uttarakhand: 6 dead, 11 missing

Heavy rains and multiple cloudbursts wreaked havoc across Uttarakhand early Friday, 29 August, triggering landslides, collapsing houses, and leaving at least six people dead and 11 missing, officials said. The worst-affected districts include Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri, and Bageshwar.

The Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) reported that overnight downpours damaged several houses in Bageshwar’s Pausari village, killing two women and leaving three others missing. A third victim was injured, while one house and a cowshed in Chamoli’s Mopata village were buried under debris, killing a couple identified as Tara Singh (62) and Kamla Devi (60). Around 25 livestock are also missing.

In Rudraprayag, landslides and three cloudbursts devastated several villages. A woman was killed in a house collapse in Jakholi, while eight others went missing in Chenagad. A 10-year-old boy also drowned in Dehradun’s Bindal River after falling in late on Thursday.

More than 70 stranded villagers in Rudraprayag’s Taljaman and Kund areas were rescued by SDRF teams using ropes to cross raging streams. Meanwhile, landslides damaged houses, cowsheds, and even irrigation walls in Tehri’s Budha Kedar region. Potato fields, temples, and livestock sheds were buried under debris as rivers including the Balganga, Dharmganga, and Bhilangana swelled dangerously.

Road connectivity has been badly hit. The Badrinath National Highway is blocked at multiple points in Chamoli and Rudraprayag, while the Kedarnath Highway has been cut off at several stretches between Banswara and Kund. Pilgrims have been urged to travel only after checking official advisories.

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reviewed the situation with district officials via video conference and directed rapid relief and rescue efforts. Teams of NDRF, SDRF, DDRF and revenue police have been deployed but are struggling to reach some remote areas due to damaged roads.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for extremely heavy rainfall in Bageshwar, Chamoli, Dehradun, and Rudraprayag over the next 24 hours. An orange alert has also been sounded for several other districts, including Haridwar, Pithoragarh, and Uttarkashi.

With PTI inputs