Uttarakhand Uttarkashi Cloudburst: Hotels and houses washed away in front of our eyes, tell locals; 4 die; many soldiers among over 60 missing
Four people have died and more than 60 are reported missing due to cloudburst in Uttarkashi's Dharali village in Uttarakhand. Local residents told that many hotels and houses were washed away in front of their eyes and some of them claimed that no warning had been issued.
According to the army, a part of the nearby army camp and rescue team has also been affected in this incident of landslide and cloudburst. PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah expressed grief over the incident and relief teams have been deployed.
The Additional Director General of Public Information (ADG PI) of the Indian Army has posted on X. According to the ADG PI of the Army, the landslide occurred near Dharali village, about 4 km from the army camp in Harshil at around 1:45 pm on Tuesday.
Brigade Commander Brigadier Mandeep Dhillon said, "The Indian Army contingent located at Harshil post was the first to respond and reached the village within 10 minutes."
He said that rescue work is going on and about 20 people have been rescued. The injured are being treated.
According to Brigade Commander Brigadier Mandeep Dhillon, the disaster occurred due to cloudburst in Dharali village at around 1:45 pm. It is about 4 km north of Harshil and is on the way to Gangotri.
Many soldiers missing
Dhillon further said that the Indian Army is stationed in Harshil and the soldiers reached Dharali within 10 minutes and started the rescue work. The Brigade Commander said that about 150 soldiers, specialized medical equipment, rescue equipment and doctors are engaged in relief and rescue work. He further said that cloudburst also occurred on the army camp in Harshil, but the army is dealing with it and is engaged in the rescue work of the civilians. According to reports, many soldiers have also gone missing in this disaster.
Air Force helicopters ready for rescue operation
Air Force helicopters are also on standby. 2 Chinooks, 2 Mi-17V5, 2 Cheetahs and one ALH are ready for rescue operation from Sarsav, Chandigarh and Bareilly airbases. At present, due to bad weather, helicopters are not able to fly. Air Force helicopters will first go to Harshil from their home bases, then will be deployed in the rescue operation as per the need.
40 to 50 houses have been washed away: NDRF
DIG NDRF Mohsen Shahedi has said that according to initial information, "40 to 50 houses have been washed away in the incident and over 50 people are reported missing."
Meanwhile, the locals of Dharali claim that the scale of devastation is very big and it has caused extensive loss of life and property.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has expressed grief over this incident by posting on x. He said that he is in constant touch with senior officials and the situation is being closely monitored.
What did the eyewitness say?
A resident of Dharali village shared the eyewitness account of this horrific incident in a conversation. He said he could see many hotels floating in front of his eyes.
Another resident told that everything was not swept away at once. The first wave that came was very strong and terrible. Even after that, more waves of debris kept coming every 10–15 or 20 minutes. Smaller waves are coming, but they are also taking the hotels with them. One or two hotels are getting washed away.