Fourteen people were feared trapped and 20 injured as landslides and flooding triggered by heavy rain flattened more than 30 houses in four villages in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Thursday. All four villages come under the Nandanagar area, about 260 km from Dehradun and 50 km from Chamoli district headquarters at Gopeshwar. Nandanagar is already reeling from land subsidence. The disaster struck Kuntari Lagaphali, Kuntari Lagasarpani, Sera and Dhurma, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami told reporters here after reviewing the situation. "Thirty-three houses, several shops and cowsheds were destroyed by debris in four villages -- Kuntari Lagaphali, Kuntari Lagasarpani, Sera and Dhurma -- following heavy rain. Fourteen people are missing and around 20 have been injured," he said. More than 200 people have been affected in the rain-related incidents, he added. Dhami said National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have reached the affected areas, and search and rescue operations are underway. Those seriously injured, including a child who sustained head injuries, are being airlifted to AIIMS, Rishikesh, the CM said.
Dhami took stock of the situation in Nandanagar by speaking to Chamoli District Magistrate (DM) Sandeep Tiwari via video conferencing at the State Emergency Operations Centre in Dehradun and asked him to accelerate relief and rescue operations in the affected areas. The Chief Minister instructed the authorities to promptly restore roads, drinking water supply, electricity, and network connectivity in the rain-affected regions.. Adequate arrangements should be made for shelter, food, clean drinking water and other essential amenities for the disaster-hit people, he said. Adequate number of doctors and medicines should be made available in each affected area to ensure prompt medical assistance, Dhami said.
In the Mokh Valley area, heavy rain triggered flooding in the Moksha river, causing erosion in it from Dhurma to Sera, damaging dozens of buildings, including at least six houses, according to officials. Chamoli DM Tiwari said at least eight people, including four members of a family, are missing in Kuntari Lagaphali village, where the landslide hit about half a dozen houses. At least two persons are missing in Dhurma village, where the raging waters of the Moksha river damaged multiple buildings, he said. The access road to Nandanagar has been blocked by debris, he said. The details of all those missing are awaited. They may be trapped under the rubble of the damaged buildings, the officials said. A resident of Kuntari Lagaphali and the vice-president of the district branch of the Indian Red Cross, Nandan Singh, who is involved in the relief and rescue operations, said the swamp is hampering the rescue operation. Torrents of mud and boulders rolled down from the hills at three locations in Kuntari Lagaphali, destroying everything in their way, he added. When the landslide hit the houses, Singh said, some of the people inside managed to escape. They sustained injuries, he said. Land subsidence hit parts of Nandanagar in August, with cracks appearing in the walls of many houses. Their residents were shifted to safe locations. The landslides hit two days after heavy rain and cloudbursts in Dehradun and nearby areas breached several roads, washed away bridges and damaged houses, killing 21 people and leaving 17 missing.