Heavy rains affect normal life in Uttarakhand; man falls into Pindar river

A 54-year-old man was swept away by the swirling waters of Pindar today while building an alternative wooden bridge for pedestrians on the river at Dhadar Bagad in the Tharali area of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district.

Sujan Singh, 54, fell into the Pindar river at around 2 pm while building the bridge and was flown down by the currents within seconds, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOP) here said.

Search and rescue teams are scouring the river to trace him, it said.

Heavy rains in different parts of the state over the past few days have affected normal life in the hill districts of the state, with a number of roads and bridges breached or washed out especially in Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts.

 

While Chamoli bore the brunt of heavy rains on July 16 with a number of houses, shops and vehicles swept away in cloudbursts that hit Tharali and Ghat areas of the district, Uttarkashi was at the receiving end of nature's fury early on Tuesday morning where a pedestrian bridge and a dharamshala (religious resthouse) were partially damaged and a road breached by the overflowing waters of the Yamuna near the famous Himalayan shrine of Yamunotri.

Uttarkashi District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan, SP Dadan Pal and a few other officials had a narrow escape when their vehicle was hit by boulders falling from a landslip in the hills in Ojri-Dabarkot area.

We got down from the vehicle and rushed to safety as the boulders began to fall on it, Chauhan said, adding that all the people escaped unhurt.

However, yatra to Yamunotri remains unaffected with alternative roads and bridges being used by the pilgrims, he said.

On reports that pujaris of Yamunotri are livid with the administration for not paying heed to their problems, the district magistrate said their complaints are being looked into and will be addressed.

Eleven rural motor roads are blocked in Pauri district by the rubble from landslides.

Releasing a data on the damages and casualties caused by rain in different parts of the state this monsoon, the SEOC said a total of 14 persons have been killed in Dehradun, Pithoragarh, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital and Uttarkashi districts in rain related incidents, which have also left four persons missing in Pithoragarh district.