Uttarakhand cloudbursts: 3 bodies found, 5 missing as rescue ops continue

“On Saturday late night, a head constable reached with an SDRF team in Gwad village where we were informed that about 7 persons were stuck after a cloudburst. The locals had recovered two bodies and the SDRF team started a search operation to find the other five. The operation stopped at the night due to dark and resumed in the morning,” the SDRF said in a statement.

“Meanwhile, in Soda Saroli area of Raipur, a search operation was started Sunday morning. A deep diving team was sent to the spot and a body was recovered by the team under the Badasi bridge. The body has been sent for identification,” it said.

Another rescue operation was underway at Aranyam Resort in Pauri Garhwal, where some tourists from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab, were stranded. “A family informed on Sunday morning that they were stuck in the resort. The resort is very close to a hill and the water level in nearby drainage is continuously increasing. This has created a possibility of a landslide. All contact routes are destroyed and the team is facing danger,” another statement from the SDRF said.

In Maldevta area of Dehradun, where at least seven houses were reported washed away following heavy rain on Saturday, 24 tourists were rescued from a resort on Sunday. A makeshift bamboo bridge was constructed by the team to rescue the tourists. Another makeshift bridge was built to help locals reach a safer place.

Dehradun was one of the worst-affected districts in the current spell of heavy rain. An early morning cloudburst near Tapkeshwar Mahadev temple triggered a flash flood. The water entered the caves near the temple.

Another incident of cloudburst was reported in Raipur block and part of a bridge connecting Raipur and outer Dehradun collapsed. The famous Kempty fall near Mussoorie was also flowing dangerously and tourists and residents have been removed from the area.

“There is a scene of destruction in different parts of the state after heavy rainfall since yesterday. In some places, houses are damaged due to debris and in several places, people were stranded due to a sudden increase in water level in rivers and drains. The SDRF teams have been working continuously since early Saturday. The teams are also working to rescue people in the Maldevta area, which is the most affected,” the SDRF said.