India
oi-Deepika S
Dehradun, Feb 07: The large flood in the Dhauli Ganga river triggered by a glacial burst in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Sunday got here as a grim reminder of the Kedarnath deluge of 2013 which led to widespread devastation in the ecologically fragile Himalayan area.
A devastating pure catastrophe in the shape of torrential rains of unseen magnitude had struck Kedarnath on 16-17 June in 2013.
The banks of the Chorabari lake in Kedarnath collapsed as a consequence of a cloudburst that had resulted in a significant flash flood inflicting widespread destruction in Uttarakhand and led to heavy losses to infrastructure, agriculture lands, human and animal lives.
However, in contrast to the Kedarnath tragedy which struck after a downpour, the flash flood on Sunday occurred on a vibrant and sunny morning which helped in aid and rescue operations by police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel in the affected areas.
Contrary to the dangerous climate that delayed launch of aid and rescue operations after the Kedarnath deluge whose magnitude couldn’t be instantly realised, the clear climate on Sunday allowed helicopters to succeed in the affected areas shortly.
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Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar mentioned all efforts in the mean time are targeted on tracing those that went lacking after the flood.
Over 150 labourers working at an influence undertaking in Tapovan-Reni are feared lifeless, an Indo-Tibetan Border Police spokesperson mentioned whereas quoting the project-in cost. Three our bodies have been recovered to date.
According to the Uttarakhand police chief, the ability undertaking has been swept away utterly.
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat additionally misplaced no time in dashing to the affected areas of Tapovan and Raini to take inventory of the state of affairs on the bottom. He mentioned aid and rescue operations are being carried out on a warfare footing in the affected areas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are continually in contact with the chief minister assuring of all doable assist.
Homes alongside the best way of the deluge have been swept away because the waters rushed down the mountainsides in a raging torrent. There have been fears of harm in human settlements downstream, together with in closely populated areas. Many villages have been evacuated and folks taken to safer areas.
Connectivity with some border posts was “completely restricted” as a consequence of a bridge collapsing close to Reni village, an ITBP spokesperson mentioned.
