DEHRADUN: Cloudbursts struck Uttarakhand’s Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts early Friday, triggering landslides that left several people injured and missing, officials said.
In Chamoli’s Mopata village, a house and a cowshed were buried under debris, trapping a couple, District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari said. Another couple was rescued in an injured condition.
In Rudraprayag’s Basukedaar area, incessant rain and landslides have damaged more than half a dozen villages. In Dungar village of Chenagadh, several people are feared missing in landslide debris and floods. Similar reports have come from Jaula-Bhadeth village, while in Syur village a house was damaged and a parked car was swept away. Floodwaters have also surged through ravines near Badeth, Bagaddhar, and Taljamani villages.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, in a post on X, expressed concern over families stranded in Badeth Dungar (Rudraprayag) and Dewal (Chamoli). He said relief and rescue operations are being carried out on a war footing and that he is in constant touch with officials, including the Disaster Secretary and District Magistrates. “I pray to Baba Kedar for everyone’s safety,” he added.
Uttarakhand has been reeling under severe monsoon-triggered calamities. Earlier, on August 5, a flash flood in the Kheer Ganga river devastated nearly half of Dharali — a key halt on the Gangotri route — and parts of Harsil, where an Army camp was severely hit. The sudden deluge left victims with little time to escape.
A total of 69 people went missing in that disaster, including nine Army personnel, 25 Nepali nationals, 13 from Bihar, six from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Dharali, five from nearby Uttarkashi villages, two from Tehri, and one from Rajasthan.
