NEW DELHI, Aug 29: At least four people were killed and three went missing as heavy rains and cloudbursts wreaked havoc in various districts of Uttarakhand early Friday triggering landslides that left about 30-40 families buried under mounds of rubble and damaged houses.
Officials said Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri and Bageshwar were among the districts hard hit by the natural calamity. The Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) in Dehradun said excess overnight rainfall damaged nearly half a dozen houses in Pausari Gram Panchayat in Kapkot area of Bageshwar district, killing two people and leaving three others missing.
Three schoolchildren returning home in east Delhi’s Mandawali had a narrow escape on Friday when the wall of an abandoned house collapsed amid rains, officials said, adding they suffered minor injuries. The injured have been identified as Pankaj (8), Dhruv (10) and Aadi (8), he said. “A call was received from Mandawali near Bada Chowk at 12.58 p.m., in which a woman caller stated that a wall had collapsed and some schoolchildren were trapped under it,” a senior police officer said.
Heavy downpour has disrupted life in Maharashtra’s Latur and Nanded districts in Maharashtra prompting the administration to declare a school holiday on Friday and seek the help of the Army for carrying out rescue operations, officials said. Of the 60 revenue circles in Latur, 29 had reported excessive rainfall till Thursday night as water levels in rivers and streams rose, triggering rescue operations, they said. About 50 roads and bridges were shut after water began to flow over the structures.
Commuters in the National Capital Region faced heavy traffic jams on several major stretches after a spell of rain. “Traffic was affected on the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) flyway, Mathura Road, Vikas Marg, ITO, ISBT, Geeta Colony, Sarai Kale Khan, Pragati Maidan, Mehrauli-Badarpur road, Akshardham, Rohtak Road, Peeragarhi Road, Delhi-Jaipur Highway, Madhuban Chowk, MB Road, MG Road, Dhaula Kuan, ITO and Rajaram Kohli Marg,” an official of the Delhi Traffic Police said.
A long queue of vehicles was also reported from Badarpur to Ashram, causing major inconvenience to office-goers and school buses. Vehicles moved at a snail’s pace, with commuters expressing their anguish over the traffic jam on social media. Many shared visuals of vehicles wading through knee-deep waterlogged roads in several parts of the city.
Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said the State Congress MLAs have decided to contribute one month’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Flood Relief Fund in view of the significant losses suffered by the State owing to floods. Several districts in Punjab have witnessed a massive flood situation with the swollen Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers inundating large tracts of farm lands and villages along their banks.
“In solidarity with the flood-affected families of Punjab, all @INCPunjab MLAs & I have decided to contribute one month’s salary to the CM’s Flood Relief Fund. This is a humble gesture of empathy in these testing times. I urge all citizens & organizations to come forward for relief & rehabilitation,” Mr Bajwa, LoP and Congress MLA from Qadian, said in a post on X.
Heavy rain lashed Jammu and Kashmir’s Katra region on Friday as the pilgrimage to the Vaishno Devi shrine remained suspended for the fourth consecutive day following a recent landslide, which claimed 34 lives and left 20 others injured. The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), which manages the Yatra, suspended the pilgrimage on Tuesday until further orders. “Inclement weather conditions still persist, so a decision has been taken to continue the suspension of the Yatra in view of pilgrim safety,” an official said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
