Searching for life in buried houses: Sub-inspector recounts rescue op in landslide-hit Uttarakhand villages

What ensued was an hours-long operation involving central and state disaster response forces. By Thursday evening, they had found two bodies while seven remained missing.

The incident took place after the villages of Kuntari Lagafani, Sarpani, and Dhurma received over 70 mm of rainfall over a period of three hours. Parts of the mountain above the villages broke off, pummelling the houses below with rocks and other debris.

SI Bhatt said the rain had not relented when they approached and heard cries coming from the rubble that had buried the two-storey house. “A family that lived there informed us that two women were trapped inside. We went to the terrace and found a partially submerged door. The house was slowly getting filled with debris and water. We called out to the women, and they climbed up towards the door. We pulled them out by widening a crevice that was initially not bigger than 50 cm,” Bhatt explained.

The villages have lost connection to the grid after the feeders in the area got disconnected. The district police and other responders will leave for the spot early Friday morning, officials said.

Stroke of luck

For Kunwar Singh, who had been stuck for 15 hours after debris fell on his house, was rescued after thermal cameras picked up his movement. He was stuck, but unharmed because while most of the house was buried in debris and water, the part where he had been was spared. However, his mother, wife and two children were also in the house and have not yet been found.

“He was trying to shout for help, and we saw his movements. He was pulled out and taken to the community health centre in Nandnagar,” said SI Bhatt. “The rest of them are believed to be dead. He has sustained an injury to his leg, but remains conscious. However, he does not know about his family yet.”

Uttarakhand has been reeling under heavy rainfall and landslides for weeks. According to the state government’s natural disaster report, at least 103 people have died since April 1, and 110 have gone missing or are feared dead after getting trapped under debris or being swept away. As many as 5,204 houses have been partially damaged, and 532 houses have been damaged severely or completely.

On Tuesday, the Disaster Management Authority said 21 bodies were recovered from Dehradun and one each from Pithoragarh and Nainital, while at least 17 are missing, after a cloudburst occurred on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday at Sahastradhara.