Uttarakhand: Three killed, three others missing as cloudburst hits Tehri

Mangalore Today News Network

Uttarakhand, July 31, 2014:  Three women were killed in their sleep, three others went missing and a man was critically injured when a cloudburst hit Netad village in Tehri district, flattening their houses in the wee hours on Thursday.

As calamity struck the region, rescue operations were launched by the district administration.

A cloudburst hit Netad village at about 2.30 AM, flooding the Ruis canal and flattening two houses.

Three women occupants of these houses were buried alive in their sleep as a result, Tehri District Disaster Management officer Ashish Semwal said on phone.

Bodies of the three women identified as Lajja Devi, Mangla Devi and Rajjo have been recovered while a search is on to trace three others who went missing after the incident, he said.

A seriously injured man has been pulled out of the rubble of the houses and admitted to Bauradi District hospital, he said.

State hit by heavy rains

Uttarakhand has already been affected by landslides following heavy rainfall in the state.

Triggered by heavy rainfall in the Garhwal Himalayas, fresh landslides at 25 places had blocked more than 150 key roads in Uttarakhand, among them those linking Rudraprayag to Kedarnath, Rishikesh to Gangotri and Rishikesh to Yamnotri.

The Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway too were badly affected, forcing the state government to halt the Kedarnath yatra routes for the time being.

Elsewhere, the landslides have paralyzed life in large swathes of Rudrapryag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Pauri and Tehri districts.

A 400-member joint Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and PWD team has been deployed to clear the roads of debris.