Dehra Dun, August 7
At least 11 persons were killed and hundreds rendered homeless when their
houses were submerged in an artificial lake formed due to landslides triggered
by heavy rains in Uttaranchal, official sources said today.
The Kailash Mansoravar yatra has also been disrupted due to landslides on the route. The Chief Minister, Mr N.D. Tiwari, has deputed a high-level team to assess the damage on the route and released Rs 10 crore for repair purposes.
Sources said eight members of a family at Rachi village in Pithoragarh district were buried alive when their house collapsed due to landslides. Rescue teams have recovered four bodies so far.
In Chamoli district of the Garhwal region, landslides killed two persons on way to the jungle to fetch fodder and wood.
In another incident, a tehsildar of Pauri, Govind Singh Negi, was killed and his six staff members, including naib tehsildar Mohan Singh Bhandari, were injured when their jeep fell into a ditch at the Pundaridhar area of Pauri district last night.
At Mudkot village in
the Munsyari area of Pithoragarh district, more than 40 houses were submerged in
an artificial lake formed due to landslides, prompting hundreds of people to leave the area.
Officials said residents of the area had been shifted to the nearby government inter-college and all essential commodities were being provided to them.
The annual Kailash Mansoravar yatra in Kumaon has been blocked at two places between Ailagarh and Chhirkila due to landslides. Road clearing machines have been pressed into service.
The chardham yatra to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri was also being disrupted intermittently but officials said there was no major hindrance in the way of the yatra.
— PTI
