By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 21 Aug: Normal life continues to be disrupted in Uttarakhand due to continuous rains and the resultant landslides across the state. Due to heavy rains, the whole of Uttarakhand is grappling with a disaster situation. Loss of life and property is being reported on a daily basis during the current monsoon, in the hills as well as the plains. Landslides in the hills have become an everyday affair even as an orange alert has been issued for the next two days in several districts, predicting very heavy rains over the next two days and medium to heavy rains till 25 August.
A heavy landslide was reported today at the taxi stand area near Chamba police station in Tehri district. It has been reported that two cars were trapped under the debris that fell from the hills at the taxi stand. Several persons were reported to be trapped in the cars.
Three persons were sitting in one of the cars when the debris fell. They could not be rescued alive by the SDRF team, which rushed to the scene. The dead included a four month old baby. The others who died have been identified as Poonam Khanduri, wife of Suman Khanduri and mother of the baby, and Saraswati Devi. Following the landslide, the traffic movement was disrupted and a huge jam resulted.
Heavy and continuous rains continue to result in road blockages also. A big landslide was reported on Neelkanth Road, Rishikesh, this morning due to which the road got blocked. Meanwhile,
Devrana, Bhumyasari and Kasan villages of Dandamandal area under Yamkeshwar block were also reported to be in the grip of land subsidence. In these villages, the motor road and the pedestrian lanes of the villages have been damaged and huge cracks have appeared in the houses and fields of the villagers. To avoid loss of life and property, villagers have left their homes and moved to safer places. Many villagers are living inside the small tents provided by the Pauri administration. The villagers are scared to return to their houses or to visit their fields. A landslide was also reported in village Bairagarh in Gram Panchayat Sindudi in the same block. In addition, Purnigiri area near Tanakpur is also witnessing continuous landslides, and cracks have appeared in the floor in the Kataujia area on the footpath ahead of the Bhairav temple.
In the past three days, these cracks have widened due to which those nearby are also in danger along with the roads.
